A (mostly) native garden in Springwood, Blue Mountains, Australia - January 10.



























All photos by Darryl Mason

John Pilger On The Gaza Genocide

Australian journalist, and decades-long veteran war correspondent, John Pilger, remains one of the most internationally respected and best-selling non-fiction writers this country has ever produced, and yet no Australian daily newspaper will publish his work. Not one. He's a journalist who he can premiere his latest documentary in Sydney and Melbourne and pull audiences numbering in the thousands, but Pilger is effectively black-banned by the mainstream Australian media.

Are stories like this the reason why?

For what happens in Gaza is the defining moment of our time, which either grants the impunity of war criminals the immunity of our silence, while we contort our own intellect and morality, or gives us the power to speak out. For the moment I prefer my own memory of Gaza: of the people's courage and resistance and their "luminous humanity," as Karma Nabulsi put it.

On my last trip there, I was rewarded with a spectacle of Palestinian flags fluttering in unlikely places. It was dusk and children had done this. No one told them to do it. They made flagpoles out of sticks tied together, and a few of them climbed on to a wall and held the flag between them, some silently, others crying out. They do this every day when they know foreigners are leaving, believing the world will not forget them.

Read The Full Story Here

One Beer-Battered Sea Kitten And Chips, Please

It's an obvious ruse to get the millions of Australian cat owners to start thinking about donating to PETA. It has to be. It's too insane to be anything other than an indirect marketing campaign to convince cat lovers (who traditionally couldn't care less about most other animals) that PETA are their kind of people :

Outspoken animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is using the "sea kitten" name as part of its push to restrict fishing.

"Nobody would hurt a sea kitten!" the group says on its website.

Don't be too sure about that. And why just fish? What about crabs, oysters and lobsters? They will need renaming as well. Some suggestions :

Lobsters : Ocean Bunnies

Crabs : Sand Koalas

Oysters : Water Squirrels

For the Japanese market, clearly whales need to be renamed Sea Pandas.

The (PETA) website features images of fish with cats' whiskers and ears.

Yes, it really does.

PETA is using the campaign to entice people to sign a petition calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service to stop promoting "the hunting of sea kittens (otherwise known as fishing)".

For many, renaming fishing as "the hunting of sea kittens" will only encourage loading up the rod and reel and hitting the open water.

Nobody Knows How Many Surveillance Cameras There Really Are In Sydney

Now storage of digital video is becoming less of a problem, and far less expensive, just where will all the surveillance footage from today end up in five or ten years time? What will video data-miners and image analysis software one day be able to learn from footage of you, as you go about your business tomorrow?

We are city under a blanket of surveillance cameras and CCTV :

Even the experts are unsure how many (cameras) are in place.

"It is very hard to get numbers,'' Dr Don Weatherburn from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research said.

At the heart of Sydney's extensive surveillance network is theso-called Situation and Emergency Control Room.

It is located in a room reached through a through a maze of corridors, security doors and an inconspicuous office kitchen and it resembles a scene from a science fiction movie.

....up to six operators watched Sydney's streets via 16 screens displaying footage from up to 2200 cameras.

The surveillance Holy Grail is, of course, to have all the CCTV, from police, councils, motorways, red light cameras, train and bus cameras, 7-11s, shopping malls, all accessible from a central database. It won't be far away, as police and councils now already share surveillance footage.

There is no escape :

People sometimes tried to run from the cameras (and the police), security operations manager Alex Kennedy said.

"But they're pretty puffed before they get out of our camera range,'' he said.

"And tricking operators by running into a bar and out the back door into an alley in Chinatown would not get them very far either.

"The camera is already waiting for them there.''

Surveillance cameras do stop some crime :

The studies included in his review showed CCTV had a modest but significant effect on crime prevention with most effect in reducing vehicle crimes in car parks.

However, evaluations of CCTV in city and town centres showed mixed results. Dr Weatherburn said there hadn't been significant investigation of their effectiveness.

People are still getting their heads kicked in waiting for a taxi in the city at2am, but now there is footage for the evening news to show.

There is only minor evidence, at best, that putting people under total surveillance stops them committing crimes. State and federal governments love camera surveillance because they believe it allows them to employ less police and commit less resources in general to crime fighting.

Yes, we do have less police on the streets, but look at all the cameras we have watching you getting assaulted!

Soon it will be even cheaper and easier than ever before for all surveillance footage of people committing no crimes at all to be archived, forever. There will be a market for all that old footage. It will be digitally archived, and eventually sold on to companies who will use body/gait/face-matching technology to identify and lock in on individuals through millions of hours of archived footage, and data-mine it all.

Perhaps somewhere in the future, someone may be willing to spend a few grand to find out where you were and what you were doing on January 17, 2009, or April 29, 2011. Perhaps they may want to see all the vid of you commuting on those days, buying lunch, drinking with friends, where you drove, how you spent your time away from the office, or in the office itself.

People forced to have surveillance cameras installed in their homes for 24 hour monitoring purposes will soon happen so often it will become a non-news event.

Is a life lived under surveillance, of being aware of always being on camera, being constantly watched, really living at all? If you are not breaking the law, don't you have the right to not be under surveillance?

If you live and work in Sydney, privacy is a myth.

The surveillance camera's mortal enemy is the humble Post-It note :

Insatiable Inflatables

It's always good to see Australia making international headlines :

'Australian Police Hunt Blow-Up Sex Doll Bandit'

I have some online friends in the US, UK, Russia and China and we occasionally trade 'Most Embarrassing But Funny National Headlines' with each other. The intention being to find the most amusingly deviant stories about each other's countries.

It's stunning how often Australia wins.

It's Not "War", It's Just Another 'War On Terror' Massacre

By Darryl Mason

The savage slaughter of hundreds of civilians in Gaza is now so obvious, so horrific, that even some of the Murdoch media can't pretend it's not happening.

From the news.com.au and Daily Telegraph online front pages at 1.30am today :



The story.

It's pretty obvious why they don't have this story open for comments. The disgust felt by most Australians at what is being done to the Palestinian people in Gaza grows by the day, as Israel kills more than 500 men, women and children in nine days of artillery attacks, tank assaults and gunship strafing.

And finally, Rudd voices his outrage - well, not really - at the relentless slaying of children by an Australian ally engaging in acts of brutal terrorism and collective punishment :

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Israel must meet its humanitarian obligations to the people of Gaza.

"Australia recognises Israel's right to self-defence while we call on all parties to avoid any actions which result in unnecessary suffering or increased suffering on the part of innocent civilians,'' he said.

Israel had to meet its humanitarian obligations under international law and ensure people in Gaza had access to basic goods, food, humanitarian assistance and medical supplies.

Mr Rudd said a diplomatic solution should halt the rocket attacks against Israel "by the terrorist organisation Hamas'' and stop arms shipments into Gaza.

It should also bring about the opening of the Gaza crossings, involve an immediate ceasefire and "form part of a longer term compact involving Israel and Palestine, based on a two-state solution".

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph's Piers Akerman, who has been busted plagiarising Israeli Army press releases and propaganda and publishing it under his own byline, pathetically tries to tamper the growing disgust at Israel's mass killings by not mentioning the outrageous death toll, already beyond 500 people, at all. He describes "collateral damage" as "a small bonus."

Like Akerman, The Sydney Morning Herald, supposedly an Israel-hating organ of Evil Pagan Lefties, sees no reason to mention all those dead kids, and in the below online front page pic shows Israel Army missiles and artillery shells on a report about Hamas rockets being fired into Israel. Just another editorial mistake, presumably :



From the on-the-spot report, where Israeli locals appeared more upset by car alarms than the Hamas rocket hit :

Looking at the raw numbers - more than 10,000 Qassams fired in the past six years and 19 people killed - the rockets do not appear all that effective.

Wonder why would that be? This is what a Qassam rocket looks like :



These rockets are not being smuggled in from Iran, or whatever bullshit claims are now circulating in the media, these are homemade weapons. They are ineffective at killing because as far as military grade missiles go, they are utter shit, they don't even rate. They are effective at scaring the hell out of thousands of Israelis, but not quite as effective as the terror that comes from helicopters gunships unloading into Gaza apartment blocks, and blowing up mosques while women and children are praying inside.

Why does the Australian media so religiously follow the Israeli propaganda line that what is now going on in Gaza is "War"? Homemade rockets against the best gunships and weapons of mass destruction that American, British and Australian tax dollars help to buy is not "War" by even the loosest definition.

To quote HG Wells, it's like bows and arrows against the lightning.

Australia All But Silent On Ally Terror Attacks Killing 80 Children

The Australian government believes the "strategic bombing" of Gaza is acceptable.

This is "strategic bombing" (images from Flickr) :













Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was too busy over the weekend to explain how he feels about an Australian ally using indiscriminate terrorism to collectively punish the Palestinian people in Gaza, for the actions of their democratically elected government. State terror attacks that have killed more than 400 people, including at least 80 children, wounding thousands more in nine days.

Kevin Rudd was at the cricket, laughing it up with Tim Blair.

"Good Afternoon, This Is Your Captain Speaking, You May Be Feeling Some Slight Turbulence As Our Automatic Pilot Has Been Disabled By Military Radio Transmissions...."

It's weird and unnerving enough that it's happened once, that we know of, now it's happened again, the second time in twelve weeks :

A malfunction has forced a Qantas jet to return to Perth, prompting concerns for the second time in three months that interference from a defence station in northwestern Australia may be to blame for a mid-air drama on the national carrier.

Qantas flight 71 was on route to Singapore with 277 passengers about 8.30am last Saturday when it had to return to Perth after the jet's autopilot disconnected because of a problem with a unit that supplies key information to flight control computers.

Aircraft engineer Peter Marosszeky said yesterday it was possible that interference from radio transmitters at the station could have caused the malfunction in both incidents.

Apparently, the radio transmisison signals from the Exmouth defence station can travel 260 nautical miles. A few more details.

"These signals are supposed to travel around the world to reach submarines in the water and naval vessels, so they are very powerful..."

The Defence Department would not comment yesterday.

What could they possibly say? Err, whoops.

Bondi Beach, January 2008

Photos By Darryl Mason

Nine seconds later :

New Year's Eve Fireworks, Sydney Harbour

And So This Was Christmas....

For those who started reading this short piece of fiction on Christmas Day, and wondered what the hell happened to the rest of it, I've given it a much needed polish and added what feels like a much better ending.

Hope you enjoy it.


Note To Self : When binge-writing and 'binge-drinking' on Christmas Eve, remember to press the 'Publish' button and not 'Save Draft' button if you want people to actually be able to read the story, you idiot!

"Daddy, Her Tits Are Scaring Me!"


Banning such sights from Sydney beaches would be downright UnOrstrahyun

By Darryl Mason

They come to our beaches, they sit amongst us, they pretend to enjoy our way of life, but something in our beach culture shocks them, scares them, makes them feel uncomfortable. Do they go back where they came from? No. They Don't. Instead they want to try and ban, and fine, Australians for taking part in a great Australian tradition.

These invaders of our beaches are the Anti-Breastists.

In fact, they are Extremist Anti-Breastists.

They must not be allowed to destroy our Culture and our Way Of Life :

Topless bathing would be banned on mainstream beaches in NSW under a conservative push to reclaim the sand.

Reclaim the sand from...breasts?

Of course, the conservatives ban on topless bathing would only apply to women.

With women increasingly going au natural, conservative powerbrokers from all sides of State Parliament yesterday supported a ban on topless bathing.

Liberal powerbroker David Clarke and Labor MP Paul Gibson yesterday vowed to support a Bill by Reverend Fred Nile that would ban nudity at popular beaches like Bondi, Manly and Coogee. Support from both sides of Parliament increases the Bill's chance if it goes to a conscience vote.

Yes, you did actually read that - a conscience vote on bare breasts on beaches.

"The law should be clear. It must say: 'Exposure of women's breasts on beaches will be prohibited'," Rev Nile said yesterday.

But what about men's breasts, Rev?

Labor MP Paul Gibson said topless women made people feel uncomfortable.

"If you're on the beach do you want somebody with big knockers next to you when you're there with the kids," he said.

How do you feel about kids being confronted by a big fat, flabby pair of hairy man boobs as they emerge from the Bondi surf, Paul?

What about morbidly obese American and British men in budgie smugglers parading our beaches, not caring a twiddle if a bit of exposed chicken skin catches the sun?

Women have been happily sunning their breasts on the beaches of this land for more than 50,000 years and few men, or boys for that matter, have ever seen any reason to complain about it.

Australian Conservatives : They just can't stop thinking of ways to make themselves even more unpopular.


Darryl Mason is the author of the free, online novel ED Day : Dead Sydney. You can read it here


.

What's That Burning Smell?

There's a lot of really nasty ways for a man to die. But this has to be one of the worst :

Police have alleged Mr Narayan's wife doused his genitals with methylated spirit and then set him on fire about 5.30am on December 7.

Imagine waking up to that.

Mr Narayan lived for 20 days, with "serious burns" to 85 per cent of his body.

"They Love It"

This is still the downright funniest and most entertaining Australian news interview of the year. Some kid nobody's ever heard of, who had a huge party that spiraled out of control, and is seized upon by a media that has lost its comprehension of real news, should have been absolutely shitting himself during this interview on A Current Affair. He was expected to be contrite, and apologetic. But he wasn't. He was totally in control, he timed his funniest lines perfectly and refused to give ACA what they wanted. He knew exactly what he was doing.




Corey Worthington is one of the more famous recent examples of a new generation who are totally at ease in front of cameras - their own, their friends' - and do not feel intimidated by the commercial media in the slightest. They are their own media, they make it, edit it, soundtrack it and share it and celebrate it. This is a generation that also knows that when they've done something that's made them famous, even if only for a few days, or weeks, there is money to be made, and they're not afraid to demand payment.

Corey Worthington's name may have already faded from headlines and the top of Most Read Story lists, but unlike many who have their private lives seized on and super-hyped by the media, Worthington walked away from the experience a couple of hundred grand richer. Good on him for getting his share from the profits of the media's absurd, embarrassing, feeding frenzy.