OT: US Media Madness

[Targan]

During a US TV news broadcast Erin Burnett, CNBC Anchor has suddenly launched into a personal attack on Kevin Rudd, Australian Prime Minister to accuse him of being a serial killer of camels.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/846...ler-us-tv-host

What the hell is this crazy bitch on about? Air strikes against camels? I gather that she is referring to the practice of aerial culling where marksmen shoot animals from helicopters.

Here is the deal: camels are not native to Australia, they are a feral animal and a major pest. When camel numbers get too high they cause major damage to fragile desert ecosystems. When Burnett says the milk and meat from the camels will be wasted she clearly has no idea of the logistics involved. Have you guys seen the size of Australia's deserts? There is NO PRACTICAL WAY to muster tens of thousands of feral camels thousands of kilometers away from civilization and somehow farm them. It would be literally impossible to take freezer trucks and mobile abbatoirs into the VAST AUSTRALIAN DESERT to butcher the carcasses.

This Burnett seems to me to have that horrible combination of ignorance and outspokenness. The Australian and American people are great friends and allies and I am stunned that an American media personality would launch a personal (and defamatory) attack on Australia's PM like this. I don't normally condone violence against women but could one of you guys in the US please give that crazy biatch a slap for me if you see her? Thanks.

[headquarters]

..I think you might have just seen the hump of the camel yet ...

[headquarters]

how many camels do you guys have anyways ?

is there a commercial side to the camels down under ?

from time to time a media personality will blurt out something or other like the camel commentary there .

I remember when we were "under siege" for our whaling .All sorts of people popped out of the wood work and demonized us in increasingly ludicrous ways -most were in the American media cycle.

( It didnt matter that indigenous people in the US killed around 50 % more whales than our fleet did in the same span of time - we really were a stalinist /socialist eco hating sentient mammal killing breed of squareheads no matter what we said .Still today some Hollywood face with a hankering to get some press turn up at our embassy in DC from time to time with a film crew and a manifest against whaling -even if moratoriums have been placed up here -oh well..luckily the attention span of the news consumer is around 0,5 minutes after the last audio visual input-it will all die down with time .)

Now- if anyone think ill of what I have written I have to say I love sea mammals and see no point in hunting them ,as long as economic compensation etc is put in place..But someplaces its tradition you know ?

Incidentally - I guess everyone gets it from time to time -its the way of the news.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by headquarters

how many camels do you guys have anyways ?

is there a commercial side to the camels down under ?

We have heaps of camels in Australia and yes they are a commercial resource. I've mentioned on this forum before about how Australia actually exports camels to the Middle East for racing because Australian camels are not affected by many of the diseases that camels get in other parts of the world and our camels are apparently very strong and fast. There is also a small camel meat industry here, both for pet meat and for human consumption.

But the culling program being put in place by the Australian Government is for a very good reason - there are far too many camels in some parts of the country and they are causing a lot of damage. Australia's deserts are like many other deserts - very dry for years or decades and then the rains come. After a a year with good rains the camel numbers explode, then when there is no water again the camels get increasingly desperate and either strip all vegetation bare or die slow, miserable deaths from starvation and/or dehydration.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

2005 reports of camel numbers here estimated 500 000+ feral camels but likely much more due to some locations being too remote for the census teams to access.
The 2001 survey in the Northern Territory stated in excess of 200 000 in thast area alone, the NT has approximately 25% of Australia's feral camel population so total numbers are likely to be closer to 1 million

[Targan]

Thanks Stainless. That reinforces even more that that Burnett woman is an idiot.

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Targan

This Burnett seems to me to have that horrible combination of ignorance and outspokenness. The Australian and American people are great friends and allies and I am stunned that an American media personality would launch a personal (and defamatory) attack on Australia's PM like this. I don't normally condone violence against women but could one of you guys in the US please give that crazy biatch a slap for me if you see her? Thanks.

The US media made a huge deal about Sarah Palin's support of aerial hunting. So it is not an anti Australia thing.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by kato13

The US media made a huge deal about Sarah Palin's support of aerial hunting. So it is not an anti Australia thing.

But was that sport hunting or the hunting of feral animals for ecological reasons? Not that I'm against sport hunting (if the meat will be eaten and the species being hunted are not endangered) but they are two very different issues.

[kato13]

It was not for sport hunting. It was defined as "predator management". Of course there are people on both sides of the argument of whether it has ecological value.

[weswood]

You'll have to ignore American news reporters. They're so "politically correct" they don't just report news anymore, they have to spin it. It disgust me so much, I can't even watch the news on TV.

[pmulcahy11b]

Well I've always thought that the animals are not in our neighborhoods -- we are moving into the animals' neighborhood. And then people complain! It's like if you move next to the airport, then complain about the noise!

As for Sarah Palin -- don't get me started.

The real media madness in this country is all the coverage about Michael Jackson. That story should stick to Entertainment Tonight. On CNN about two weeks ago (10 days after Michael Jackson's death), Nancy Grace made an interesting commentary. She said, "Let's put Michael Jackson's death into perspective," then she read off a list of about a dozen Marines. Then she said, "All these Marines have lost their lives in Afghanistan since Michael Jackson's death."

[General Pain]

Originally Posted by weswood

You'll have to ignore American news reporters. They're so "politically correct" they don't just report news anymore, they have to spin it. It disgust me so much, I can't even watch the news on TV.

Yeah...I try to stay away from the spindoctors in the media bizniz, TV beeing the worst of them...If I need any news ...I read this forum...

[Targan]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

The real media madness in this country is all the coverage about Michael Jackson. That story should stick to Entertainment Tonight. On CNN about two weeks ago (10 days after Michael Jackson's death), Nancy Grace made an interesting commentary. She said, "Let's put Michael Jackson's death into perspective," then she read off a list of about a dozen Marines. Then she said, "All these Marines have lost their lives in Afghanistan since Michael Jackson's death."

Right on Paul. I couldn't agree more.

[MajorPo]

Personally I think it's sad that Michael Jackson's meat went to waste.

[headquarters]

Originally Posted by MajorPo

Personally I think it's sad that Michael Jackson's meat went to waste.

rough.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by headquarters

rough.

I know. I'm sure at least some pets would have liked the taste.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by headquarters

rough.

I think he'd be more stringy than rough.

Love your new avatar Major Po, BTW!

[Targan]

I've heard sound bites of this retarded cow Burnett all day in news reports (just heard another one) and I can not believe her tone of indignant outrage. It sounds like she thinks that camels are part of Australia's natural wildlife and it also sounds like she actually thinks that RAAF fighter-bombers have been dropping snake and nape on camels in the outback. F***ing idiot. Someone really needs to explain to her some of the basic facts in the case.

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Targan

I've heard sound bites of this retarded cow Burnett all day in news reports (just heard another one) and I can not believe her tone of indignant outrage. It sounds like she thinks that camels are part of Australia's natural wildlife and it also sounds like she actually thinks that RAAF fighter-bombers have been dropping snake and nape on camels in the outback. F***ing idiot. Someone really needs to explain to her some of the basic facts in the case.

While I agree with your points insulting a reporter really does not do much good. I understand your venting, but in the event that she has a fan in this forum or just someone who objects to the use of the word "cow" (since it really has no connection to her accuracy), I would rather not have any personal insults.

I don't envy you with your job. My blood pressure would skyrocket if I was forced to watch ill informed and often biased journalists all day.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I think he'd be more stringy than rough.

I'd have thought he'd be more like bubble gum. Sickly sweet, appealing to children and with the consistancy of plastic.

[jester]

The media does that domesticaly as well as abroad guys. Although they have failed at the moral outrage for similiar culling of the wild burros and donkeys and horses in the US SouthWest and West. It seems most of the folks in the areas where it happens are well aware of the situation and it is much the same as with the camels, when times are good the population explodes then the following years the ecosytem is devestated affecting the health of the animals as they starve and slowly die as well as affecting the other animals since there is no more water or vegetation as well as weakening the population allowing diseases to take hold and again pass to other species further affecting them.

They get some sympathetic tree hugger types in the cities and thankfully most are so far removed from animal culling that they are harmless, except for a few terrorists like ALF and GreenPeace and such, those types well, I'd enjoy bouncing around the walls of a small room or just taking potshots at on the open range.

[Targan]

I apologise for referring to Erin Burnett as a cow and for accusing her of being retarded as those accusations are almost certainly untrue. I do feel however that there is ample evidence to support my assertion that she is, in fact, an idiot.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Targan

I apologise for referring to Erin Burnett as a cow and for accusing her of being retarded as those accusations are almost certainly untrue. I do feel however that there is ample evidence to support my assertion that she is, in fact, an idiot.

Even if your accusations are untrue, I can't help but feel that the poor cows are the ones being insulted

The problem with free speech is that some people are stupid enough to use it, I have no objection to an ill-informed media flunky stating their opinion no matter how wrong it may be - but only so long as they take responsibility for what they have said

[Mohoender]

Saying that they are ill informed is only siting the obvious. They are not interested into being informed in the first place as they are not interested in reporting news. They are interested solely into finding top news and making them out of nothing is just a regular way.

Paul, sorry for the 12 soldiers killed but soldiers get killed everyday in Afghanistan and whom could be interested by that kind of news anyway outside every regular US citizen. (by the way the french news had reported them but that must be because we are not that interested in the MJ thing at the moment).

Finaly, don't blame reporters too much as there is nothing new. That had been the case since the job was invented. I'm currently reading a book called "around Tsushima" and what it depicts amazed me. You should try to find Jack London's news report on the 1905 russo-japanese battle at Tsushima and read it. London was not an idiot but he was doing his job and his comment were no more smart than the one you saw Targan.

I know that it feels better to complain about these kind of things (I do that from time to time) but, when doing that, we remind me of a certain Don Quichote de la Mancha (correct the spelling please).

Wow! 1 million camels. May be every australian household should take one as pet

[simonmark6]

NOOOOOOOOOO!

Can we please stop with the Michael Jackson thing! A kid in our school sang at the guy's funeral and I'm so sick of it all that I've locked myself in my room for the summer holidays and this forum was one of the few places I thought I'd be safe from the invidious presence of it all.

The kid's nice enough, I've nothing against him and wish him all the luck in the world, I'm just sick of the media hype over Jackson.

It's similar to when Diana died, I remember twenty-eight hours straight of news about that and footage of her looking dewy eyed over sick rabbits and then heard a six second sound bite that said: "Oh, by the way, mother Teresa died as well, we will never know hoe Diana felt about this..."

Mother Teresa! OK, she had an unhealthy tea towel addiction but the woman was a saint anyway you want to use the word. Diana, however was much more interesting to the media, maybe the good mother should have had a fling with Desmond Tutu.

Anyway, vent over, but please, no more about MJ, or at least keep it to this thread, I won't read it anymore.

[natehale1971]

It could be worse... No wait, it's not. I have for a long time found that there are major media personalities who make personal attacks on people whose politics they don't aggree with. And that just goes to prove that they aren't as unbaised as they like to claim. Remember during the last presidential administration it was patriotic to protest the policies being followed, but now it's not only unpatriotic... It's both ignorance and racist.

[jester]

Media hysteria! Well think about how and why the Spanish American War was fought? William Randolph Huerst was the one who whipped up the frenzy that caused the war with his yellow journalism. So, it has never changed, its all about the sensationalism.

Now would there be sensationalism and propoganda in the T2K world? Lets come up with some "attrocities" to spur our people to fight! Or by 2000 would they have really happened or would people just no longer care?