Free Speech in Amerika

SO this young fella at a Q&A session with American Democrat John Kerry asks a smart-arse question and promptly get hauled off by 4 cops who just happen to be standing behind him at the time. The video's currently playing on YouTube here .

Couple of questions raised: Did the young fella have a line-up of boys in blue behind him because he was a known trouble-maker and they expected some REAL trouble (let's face it, that whole 'secret society' shit was a question designed to embarrass rather than elicit any useful information, but it didn't really require a police escort from the premises, or tazering...)

And what ever happened to the much-vaunted American 'Free Speech'? The guy asked a question no stupider or more irritating than a lot of TV show commentators, and they don't get dragged off and zapped. Probably coz they're in public view. And this guy wasn't meant to be.

And even though he was screaming and crying for help (let alone an explanation as to why he was being arrested), no-one in the audience (let alone on the stage) raised a finger to help him. Any politician worth his salt should have leapt off the stage into Shining Armour onto his White Charger, and rescued the poor, mouthy fellow - what a media coup! But Mr Kerry ignored the plight of a 'Fellow American', and do did the rest of his audience. Maybe that sort of behaviour wouldn't have been such a media coup after all, because the concepts of free speech and helping one's fellow man seem totally alien to these people.

Next time I see an American politician posturing about Free Speech, and his Fellow Americans, I am going to snigger. Partly for them, but mostly for me - I was labouring under the misapprehension that Total Loss of Credibility was a finite state, but I was wrong - they just lost even more.

Yeah, yeah, it's been a week...

... and I've had the 'flu, been renovating my dining room floor, and coping with the last couple of weeks of school for the term (so, fairly busy).

The renovating has been a bit of a learning curve - notes to self: removal of ringed nails from the very edge of a hardwood floor should be undertaken not only with pliers and a screwdriver, but also armoured gauntlets and copious amounts of alcohol (afterwards!); that pissy little bag on the end of the orbital sander that has to be emptied when it has reached one-third full is really there for decoration - most of the dust never makes it that far and I think I got an entire teaspoon-full after sanding the whole floor (the rest of the dust settled artistically in the afternoon sun on the glassware, coffee mugs, and food preparation areas necessitating a scrub-down of the entire kitchen.

Next week I'm doing the kitchen floor and hiring a floor sander (the machine, not the fella), which has a really BIG dust bag attached. I think I'll move the contents of the kitchen to the other end of the house and invest in breathing apparatus.

Blond Moment

AAP , September 04, 2007: AUSTRALIA should aim for a population of 50 million through "significant migration", says Queensland Premier Peter Beattie.

Addressing a business luncheon at the Brisbane Club today, Mr Beattie said the current ageing population of 21 million was too small to meet future needs.

"In terms of the general issue of migration - I know there are pressures on, and all that stuff, in terms of the environment - I think 21 million Australians is not enough,'' he said.

Well, we have the land to put them on... but what are they going to drink? Our current infrastructure is having serious difficulty in supplying enough water to the people who are currently living here - half the proposed number.

Having a Blond Moment, Peter, Honey? Ya great twit!