Wednesday 31 July 2013

PC gone mad (my head is going round)

Political correctness is the distortion of reality made to suit the interests of certain groups. Not being able to say certain things is only a mere sample.

Thursday 25 July 2013

The Media: "Some people deserved to be blamed more than others"

The media often talks about victim blaming. Victim blaming is often raised in relation to rape cases. A male asylum seeker was gang-raped in a detention centre as exposed by a whistleblower. Exposing such evil acts is noble without a doubt. This nobility can  be contrasted to the hypocrisy of the media regarding the way it reports such issues. 

It is true that no one seems to be really saying that the asylum seekers should not be in Australia regarding the case. However, the media does not ask questions about why something so terrible can happen to the victim in this case, a Pakistani male who is seeking refuge in privileged country. The media raises this question whenever people comment that a woman, typically a young, attractive Australian woman may not have had to be subject to such treatment had she not gone out at night. It says that its "victim blaming".

Blaming someone involves removing accountability from a perpetrator on the grounds that the perpetrator has a legitimate right to harm the victim. Therefore, saying that a victim may not have suffered something had they not been at the wrong place at the wrong time does not amount to victim blaming. It is merely a statement explaining the possibility of an event. 


Sunday 21 July 2013

Examples of media siding minorities

Interview with Scott Morrison by Chris Uhlmann about war against people smugglers:

These asylum seekers are from poor and developing countries, not rich and developing countries like India. The media would most likely react with indifference if the asylum seekers were fleeing from political persecution in rich but developing countries. How much media attention do asylum seekers from China in Australia get? Almost next to none. The media assumes moral authority in making the public feel sympathy towards asylum seekers from poor countries. This is how it engages the community. The technique works because it reflects the attitude of the general society. It sympathises with those from poor, developing countries while feeling jealous of those from rich but developing countries.

The row over Derryn Hinch who commented that the R v Adrian Bayley, as known as Jill Meagher case would be trial by media is another classic example. All he was doing is to remind the public that the comments made on social media may affect the case. This is in no way siding with Bayley the accused. If the victim was not an attractive western woman, one could almost be certain that this row would not occur. Don't believe me? There is a real media phenomena termed the 'Missing White Woman Syndrome' by professor Sheri Parks from University of Maryland. Do you remember the last time when a person who was not a 'white woman' went missing? Probably not if you are living in Australia, US or UK.

Check this out:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22441124
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cHEeVs3T4A&feature=youtu.be

Saturday 20 July 2013

"Minorities are to be supported because they are minorities" says the media

If there are any groups the media will always love, they are the minorities. That is, the groups which claim that they are the minority and play the victim card, not the groups who are really minorities. This is because they help make the media influential. The media thrives on the suffering of others. Before we blame the media, we must look at ourselves as a community. 

We love to watch how others are suffering because it makes us feel better, or convinced that we are not the worst off. That is why. We love to hear negative things about others. We forget the good things others do, and never forget the bad things others do. That is who we are as people. 

Social behaviour allows the media to thrive by siding minority groups. Siding minority groups means to make their (deceitful) voice of suffering and oppression heard. As a result, it can be said that the resentment towards people of "victimised" groups is forgiveable, albeit based on a stereotype. 

Thursday 18 July 2013

The Rise of Advocacy Journalism

The media has increasingly engaged in advocacy journalism. Advocacy journalism is now the norm in Australia. Its principle is that it should report in a way which helps certain groups, especially minority groups. This is the new media bias. The Australian Broadcasting Channel would be the leader of the new media bias. It makes it look not only normal, but fashionable to engage in advocacy journalism. Leigh Sales and Chris Uhlmann should win the Logies for Advocacy Journalism. I will analyse an interview between Uhlmann and Opposition Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison in a later post. 

The media uses 7 main techniques to paint a picture that makes certain groups look like they are suffering or more oppressed  than others. What if they are, you may ask. While it may be true, it is important to very carefully analyse any media report that seems factual. 

These 7 techniques are:

  1. Deliberate propaganda - distortion of facts, statistic
  2. Institutional bias - reporting of events based on the ideological framework of the media organisation. The media organisation is too arrogant to accept that the views of others may also be legitimate. 
  3. Sensationalism - appeal to the emotion rather than reason. These reports tend to use dramatic sound and visual effects to make people feel more emotional towards the people. They tend to make the audience either feel disdain towards the archtypical criminal and sympathy towards young attractive women who behave inappropriately.
  4. Omission - leaving out facts or phrases made by interviewees that would distort the picture. Look very carefully whenever a news show like 7:30 report presents a taped interview
  5. Political correctness or sensitivity - fear of offending certain racial, cultural, religious groups. They tend to downplay the unacceptable actions of people of minorities while thinking it is acceptable to blame the dominant groups for the problems and struggles faced by minorities. Totally unacceptable in the eyes of anti-minoritarians.
  6. Confirmation bias - facts are presented in way that represents different groups in the light that the majority thinks they are. It reinforces negative stereotypes of dominant groups and positive (erroneous) stereotypes of "minority" groups
  7. Audience bias - the media organisation knows that most of its audience have a certain ideology and hence, present stories that only present facts from its framework. This is why some media websites ask its viewers about their age, gender, residence, political parties, views about certain issues, etc. These factors influence a person's views.




Tuesday 16 July 2013

Trusting Others

 "A lie told often enough becomes the truth." This is what the Russian revolutionary  Vladimir Lenin once said. 

In our postmodern world where it is generally accepted that there are no truths, there are many lies out there which are told which eventually become accepted as a truth. 

Who can you trust these days? Honestly, who can you trust? You can't trust other people at all, unless they show through their actions that they are not self-serving, but serve others. Serving others means to be kind to others even when they are not kind to you and to forgive others when they have hurt you. A person who is self-serving is one who only looks at their own needs , but does not care about others because it is nothing to do with them. 

We are all naturally self-serving. That's right, we are all selfish. However, there are people whose actions are not self-serving because they know what is means to be self-serving and that it is not acceptable. It is impossible for people not be self-serving in one's own strength. This is because we are serving ourselves when we choose to serve others by our own will. It is true that some have done great humanitarian works for others, but if it is done without love, then the works are really done to satisfies one's own desire. Sometimes we may think we love others for who they are, but we really love them for what they can give to us, whether that be a good reputation. 

We often turn a blind eye to the poor, the needy and the powerless. Not only that, we treat them with disdain for who they are. This seems to be the norm of the world. It is no wonder why people generally can't be trusted. People fail us. Cynicism is forgiveable in our modern world because there are many cons out there.

These liars can be found in 3 main categories


  • Academia
  • Media
  • Political/legal arena
I will be exploring the techniques each of them use to spread perverted and twisted philosophies to mislead others in their quest to gain what they want at the expense of others.




Monday 15 July 2013

Revised definitions

 On the 26 June 2013, Australian history made its most significant turn in politics. A prime minister who ousted a democratically elected predecessor was ousted by that predecessor himself. Some called Kevin Rudd, the man who returned to the top job a traitor, while some called him a hero. The following definitions are revised definitions of Australian politics.

Julia Gillard - The prime minister who cut uni fundings to fund primary school, initiated an investigation into the pay discrimination against women, while cutting single parent's welfare. All in the run up to the 14 September 2013 election which she called.  She is the first prime minister to oust a sitting PM only to be ousted herself. Before the 2010 election, she declared that there would be no carbon tax under the government she would lead, but introduced it after her government was elected.

Kevin Rudd - The comeback kid who will have a "emission trading scheme" instead of a "carbon tax". He says the ETS is not a carbon tax, but it is. It's just that it has a different name. He unwound the Howard government's effective asylum seeker policy, only to have more boats coming to Australia.  A great campaigner, he is able to make himself popular with a diverse range of people in the public. This is the main quality which allowed him to make his comeback.

Tony Abbott - Most famous opposition leader in Australia. He is known for his 3 word slogan: "Stop the boats". He has had the most vile comments made about him and yet others question why is it people on the left, and not people on the right who cops the worst abuse. Feminists complain about Gillard needing to put up with the worst abuse, but people on the conservative side have to put up with equally demeaning abuse, if not worse. Gillard has the protection of women whereas conservative men in politics, and even progressive ones, do not. It seems like what the progressives say is always right and that everyone else has to conform to it.




Friday 12 July 2013

The Stalker (2)

The campus spy uploaded the video on Facebook. It received thousands of likes. Many people mocked them calling them the 'ugly pair' who deserved to be humiliated. It was only six months later that the pair found out. The girl found out about the video before her boyfriend.

"Someone put a video of us on Facebook," she told him.

He was shocked. "What? How could they?" he asked.

"You don't believe me?" She retorted aggressively. "What don't you check it out? She blamed him for not finding out earlier and being able to make the complaint to Facebook.

They broke up shortly after. She could not forgive him for not doing anything about it beforehand and killed him. He had died in shame at her lies. She became infamous, not only in the uni, but within Australia. She became known as the "woman who killed her boyfriend" because of an embarrassing video of them uploaded on Facebook by someone else.

Before she went to trial, she killed herself as she could not take the pressure. She too had died in shame. Hundreds of students from her uni celebrated their deaths.  It was too bad.

Thursday 11 July 2013

The Stalker (1)

There was once a shy girl, who everyone at uni rejected. She was a very quiet academic girl who has no friends. She spent most of her time, not in the library working hard, but in the places of debauchery and decadence.  Her hair looked like a beehive without bees as it smelt of rot.  Not feeling secure about herself, she would always rub on bright red lipstick which made her look like she had double lips. She wore the shortest skirt in the whole uni. She thought it would make her look good, but it made her legs look most unsightly. She was out to a boy, but no one wanted her as she was an arrogant, domineering person. Her appearance reflected her character.

It was rumoured that she was a 'slut'. Many people were only too willing to believe this. It was not that they were any better though, they just didn't like her. The uni had a campus spy network made up of uni students who peered on the secret lives of others. No one knew of their meeting places or information they collected about others.

Once day after class, a boy approached her after class. He told her how beautiful he thought she was and asked her out. She replied with a resounding yes. They spend the night engaged in romantic physical touching so intimate that no one would do if they knew someone was watching. To their detriment not yet known to them, a campus spy had captured their activities on video.

The boy had a skinny figure which made him look malnourished. His long hair hid his timid face, which was because his face looked like it had never been washed. His hair also looked like a jungle for fleas, except that it had no fleas because they had a better place to go to. No one liked him because he was a weak character with the most irrational mind. Neither did he do well academically or socially. He was lonely and he too had wanted a girl to talk to. Not that he deserved to have anyone to talk to, but he just couldn't survive at uni by himself. Like the girl described before, his character is written all over his appearance.

To be continued...

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Not giving enough weight to an unpopular argument (2)

Those of you readers from Russia would find this of great interest. The ABC's PM program covered a report titled 'Russia Passes Controversial Anti-Gay Law'. I could be wrong, but based on what I have seen in the Australia media, it appears to be perhaps the most controversial topic in Russia. The report appeared to give disproportionate weighting to the arguments against gay marriage and assumed that support for gay marriage is the only acceptable stance on this topic.

The report describes the opinions of two Russian MPs, Elena Drapeko and Tamara Pletnyova who voiced their opposition to gay marriages. It does not silence their opinion, but does not explore the reasoning behind their opinion. Instead, Macey goes on to say that supporters of the legislation are 'trying to protect Russia's young'. The report, on the other hand, allows opponent of the bill, Rodney Croome to logically give reason their views. 

Rodney Croome is the  national director of Australian Marriage Equality. So obviously, he has an interest in the legalisation of gay marriage for he himself is a homosexual. Croome criticises the law for preventing foreigners, including Australians for being able to speak nothing but negatively about homosexuality. He also criticises Russia for having laws that do not suit his values. Just like how every person, including him, has their own values, every country has their own values. He may be a lecturer in sociology, but this does not mean that he is always right about social values. Like everyone else, he has no right to change their values and behaviour to suit his self-interest. 

Croome finishes of the report as though he is able to conclude like an expert. He is an expert, that is, in the eyes of the ABC who are helping to champion the progressive agenda. The report is a subtle, cunning pro-homosexual propaganda which is an attempt to silence alternative views.

Last note: For those of you in Russia, could you please give your comment about whether it would be right to say that foreign media has attacked Russia for this law. Your insight would be appreciated. Thanks.





Sunday 7 July 2013

Not giving enough weight to an unpopular argument (1)

The report titled 'Growing disquiet in Labor over Welfare Reform' on 7:30 report investigated the cuts to single parent's payment under the Gillard government. These cuts aroused the anger of single parents nationwide and 7:30 sought to investigate why. It came to the conclusion that the government should not have made these cuts. However, it did not give enough weight to the argument that was not against the cuts.

The report was centred around a single mother, Jacqueline Knox, who explains how hard is it for her to raise her two children by herself. Single parents are in varying financial and socioeconomic positions. By using one single mother as the basis to support the argument that the cuts not should be made, the report is based on the untrue premise that all single parents are struggling, and that therefore all single parents should not have a cut to welfare payments. There may well be some who are relatively well off and have no need for welfare payments in the first placed. This invokes sympathy in the audience, possibly in an attempt to a arouse the anger of the community at large.

Six out of seven people who expressed views in the report were against. The only person who did not express her view that she was against or for the cuts was economist Judith Sloan. However, she said that it is a matter to encouraging people to go to work. 7:30 appeared to dismiss her argument by using feminist researcher Eva Cox to dispute her argument that the cuts will provide an incentive for single parents to go to work. This may well be true, but, Cox, herself being a single mother would be expected to have bias towards single mothers.

While the report seeks to make a valid criticism of cuts to existing welfare payments, the report relied on a disproportionate number of parties against the cuts and a personal story which may not represent that of the group concerned. This makes the report sensationalist, rather than well investigated.



Friday 5 July 2013

Uncovering the Media Bias of the ABC

Many regard the Australian Broadcasting Channel (ABC) as a fair and accurate media source. However, the impression of facts that it gives is often in support of those it regards as minorities. The role of the media reports is to describe the facts, not impress its views of the facts on the public. The role of independent media (like blogs), however, is not to describe facts, but to analyse them. That is exactly what I will be doing in my next posts.

Friendship: 7 Signs of a Untrustworthy "Friend" (3)

There are 7 distinct signs of an untrustworthy "friend" who pretends to be your friend, but is really your enemy.
  1. They are nice to you when you appear to be vulnerable, but when you are strong, they find it something that deserves cynicism.
  2. They are appear polite to people, but gossip about some people behind their backs. 
  3. They do not talk to the less popular people. They only talk to their own group of elitist friends.
  4. They identify themselves to be of only one group and find it unthinkable how they can be thought to be associated with less popular people.
  5. They are controlling. They like to criticise and lecture you for doing little things they find an eyesore. Whenever someone else is doing something bad, they turn a blind eye.
  6. They tend to only talk to people of the opposite sex to look popular. They do not enter relationships with people of the opposite sex for who they are.
  7. They like to know your latest fashions, achievements, etc, not your needs. 

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Friendship: The Dark Art of Being Friendly (2)

We all need to feel a sense of belonging and love. There is nothing wrong with it and it is only just too natural. The ability to making others feel loved and have a sense of belonging is a good quality trait. However, this quality trait can be exploited to manipulate others. Some people are able to hide their dark motives by showing friendship, not for the other person, but for their own gain. These people tend to be those who seem friendly, but are cliquey. They tend to be popular with their own group of friends who are also very popular and powerful. This is what you would call the 'TC' group at school.

Any group that made of mainly popular and powerful people, whether they are academic, sporty, musical or artistic is a 'TC' group. A 'TC' group is not necessarily a mean, bullying group, at least in appearance, but it is typically somewhat snobby and discriminates the "lesser", beta groups. They are empowered because they have the ability to make others feel comfortable where they are, whether this 'comfort' comes from being willing to submit to the demands of the TC group to act their way or adapt to their way, or from feeling vindicated about what one does. It is to be noted that this is not to say that are all bad.

People who appear friendly may only want to be friendly to gain your affection, and have no regard for your needs. It is important to discern whether someone being friendly to you really means it. To do so, one must look at how they treat others, especially those who are less popular or powerful.

Monday 1 July 2013

Friendship: The Secret Weapon of Friendliness (1)

All humans like to be treated with respect and also friendliness. We prefer to people be friendly to us, and only if people are friendly to us will we consider that person a friend. However, friendliness can be used as a tool to manipulate others. There are a wide and varied range of ways in which people can manipulate others. Manipulating others involves using others for one's own gain whether it be for one's security, comfort, material gain, or even good repute. Only by forming a friendship with another can one use that person for one's good. Many people form friendships with others for this reason. Friendliness is the mere outward appearance of a friend. Whether one can be considered a friend is a different matter. I question whether there is a such thing as a true friend. This may sound very skeptical or cynical, but it is a question that one must ask. This is because we all need to form relationships with others. 

Friendliness, however, is the first step to forming a friendship with another. Whether it is genuine, or out of hypocrisy or pride, needs to be examined. Friendliness is a character trait which can be exploited to win the trust of others, and use them for one's benefit.