True Blood, and the actually scary

[blamebrampton]

'I have proof, scientific, people are much dumber than they realise.'
– Nan Flanagan, True Blood, Season 4, episode 1

I think I have a new favourite line in popular culture ...

In hilarious actual news news, recently, Lord Monckton, Scottish peer and anti-science fruitloop, declared that highly respected Australian economist Ross Garnaut was a fascist and illustrated him with a swastika at a talk in the US.

Monckton is currently in Australia talking at a series of mining industry events in Western Australia. He has responded to criticisms over the Garnaut swipe by saying that the media is hypocritical:

'[Monckton] said one journalist had written in a column that climate change sceptics should be gassed.

' "None of you have gone around to her house and thrust microphones in her face and said don't you think you're being a bit unfair," Lord Monckton told reporters. (Source)'

Well, no, because it was in a comedy piece full of hyperbolic overstatement for parodic effect. Written by a journalist called Richard. Who is a man.

On the east coast, in Sydney, an anti-carbon tax rally was held today. In attendance were several hundred people, including one of the more public members of the Australian Fascism movement, who has public photographs of himself in full Nazi regalia.

You could not make this stuff up.

Comments

[nenne.livejournal.com]

'I have proof, scientific, people are much dumber than they think they are.'

This goes well with a statement a friend of mine makes from time to time: "You can not underestimate people enough!". Sadly she is often right.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I was nearly killed cycling home one night when I looked at a taxi and thought 'There is no way that you are going to be stupid enough to drive around the car stopped at the red turning arrow and into my well-lit bicycle ...'

Since then, my default position on drivers has been that they are all insane and homicidal. Oddly, it's not that far from my default position on politicians. The general public seem generally superior ...

[nenne.livejournal.com]

That sounds scary!

It is a good position to have though. The examiner(?) at my driving test gave me a final piece of advice before I got my drivers license, he said: "Always expect the other drivers to be really bad drivers and make sure you take responsibility for avoiding accidents." It is good advice I think.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

And exceptionally painful, alas.

Yes, I dramatically lowered my already snail-height expectations of Sydney drivers after that. Most of the time these days I avoid being hit by them by not cycling, since no amount of rational action on my part made the roads any safer here :-(

[nenne.livejournal.com]

That is really a pity. Cycling is such good exercise and a great way to get around in a city.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I agree. Sydney is the first city to stop me cycling, but after three hospitalisations and 18 months of physiotherapy in total (now 22 as I needed more for the foot this year, a long time after shattering it), I accepted that I would have to be a pedestrian here, because I prefer to live.

Also, all my friends threatened to steal my bike ...

[nenne.livejournal.com]

I can see why they would say that! Good Heavens!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's only Sydney, most other Australian cities have motorists who are if not happy to share the road with cyclists, at least resigned to it. Here they seem to take it as a personal affront.

Things are slowly improving for cyclists, with more cyclepaths being built in the city, but I think I will stick to riding out in the bush now and then until there are complete separate cycleways.