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Ok here is a perfect example of a clown calling herself a journalist - Rosemary McCloud is this persons name and she would have to be one of the most narrow minded people I have ever come across. Is it any wonder that she writes for a website called stuff!

30 January 2006

By ROSEMARY MCLEOD
So help me, I'm returning to the subject of Schapelle Corby, that martyred, doe-eyed white Christian woman caught up in Muslim machinations in Indonesia. Or so we would have it only a few short months ago.


How did it happen that this Australian woman with a mysterious past became a cause celebre? How is it that on both sides of the Tasman letter-writers to newspapers could barely contain their venom, or their tears, over her plight?
The Corby case should go down in history not as a travesty of justice, which it increasingly looks certain it wasn't, but as a barely-veiled expression of racial and cultural intolerance. It had the hallmarks of the hysteria of a former age, when the children's storybooks of the British Empire throbbed to the drumbeats of black savages pictured tying blonde white men and women up and lowering them, still in jodhpurs and pith helmets, into big black cooking pots. It reeked of the time when Western culture was obsessed with the idea of white slave trafficking; when every female tourist half-believed she'd be abducted by a passing sheikh and swept off to be a plaything among the Bedouin if she strayed but a step from her orderly tour guide's path.
We, who are barely Christian in our beliefs any more, still feel a kind of Western class loyalty against the Muslim faith, which is now only as extreme as our own faith formerly was. We burned heretics by the trainload over points of doctrine, and tortured them by ever more savage and ingenious means to make them confess to wrongful thoughts that wouldn't raise an eyebrow today. We waged crusades against the Muslim world on specious pretexts, massacring innocents in their thousands. But all that history is forgotten now. We've become the saviours of whales, not of heathen souls. We're the good guys.
They, on the other hand, are mostly dusky skinned. They, who still believe belief is important, are fanatics, their countries corrupt, and leaders venal. As for their justice systems - while ours is spotless, theirs, we believe, isn't worthy of the name. Muslim countries - and Indonesia is predominantly Muslim - are worthy of our tourist dollars, but not of the genuine tolerance of equals. We visit them conscious that our ways are the right ways, and theirs misguided. We're happy there so long as we can get drunk, and buy sex. And if we can smuggle drugs through the Muslim world, why wouldn't we?
I like to think that if the Corby case had happened in a bigger culture than Australasia, it would have been reported differently, that investigative journalists, those commendably curious and heartless individuals, would have dug away at the surface of the story and revealed much more about her background and her family than ever happened while her case was an active, ongoing media circus.
So why didn't it happen here? Was it because journalists went along with public sentiment, rather than searching for the truth? Was it easier, and did it make for better headlines, when she was presented as an ingenue?
I can't help wondering, now that more is known about her family circumstances, how long that information was available.
It's interesting to compare Corby's charmed treatment with the equally tortuous media saga of Joanne Lees, the Englishwoman whose fiance Peter Falconio was murdered in Australia's outback, while she was abducted. The killer was convicted last month.
Lees was also attractive to look at, but the media disliked her from the outset, who knows why? She had to face insulting innuendoes about whether she lied about the abduction, and the inference - long before the case was heard - that she might have known more about Falconio's death than she let on. She also suffered the public humiliation - again, well before the trial - of the revelation that she'd been unfaithful to her fiance.
Maybe the media were worried about affecting the outcome of the Corby trial, but if they're capable of such delicacy of feeling, why didn't the same gallantry extend to Lees? Lees was innocent, a victim, but she was effectively tried in public as if she was a criminal. Corby, who may well have been guilty all along, was treated as if she was a saint.
So is it drug-running that we're tolerant of, as opposed to sexual infidelity? Do we regard drugs as so trivial that trading in them should be treated as a misdemeanour, with other governments and cultures forced to share that indulgent view?
More likely we see the Corby case as illustrating an ongoing, unstated fear of the immigrants beating at our shores, who take life too seriously for our collective comfort, and pack their alarming certainties in their luggage.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,...a16077,00.html

admin

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So help me, I'm returning to the subject of Schapelle Corby,

from the very firsty line we see the type of person we are dealing with - she admits returning to thew subject of Schapelle is soemthing that most people are sick of - well you know why Rosemary - It is because of people like YOU. Once again milking the poor girl for every possible story you can suck from her.

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that martyred, doe-eyed white Christian woman caught up in Muslim machinations in Indonesia

what does her eyes have to do with it? They are beautiful eyes - no one but people like YOU draw our attention to her physical appearence. By the way she looks alot better than you do with all that fake hair, guess it the rest of your fake life.

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How did it happen that this Australian woman with a mysterious past became a cause celebre?

LOL - mysterious past?? Oncxe again more media hype and lies. The only thing you idiots have been able to dig up about Schapelle is that she was once married to a japanese man. GASP!!!! A sure sign of a mysterious past!! ROFL! There is NOT once ounce of evidence to suggest anything suspicious about Schapelle herself. NOTHING.

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How is it that on both sides of the Tasman letter-writers to newspapers could barely contain their venom, or their tears, over her plight?

geee mate mayeb that is because those people are angry at the incredible injustice being served apon them. We are not all prepared to lie down like little puppets and do nothing when we believe an injustice is being served.

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The Corby case should go down in history not as a travesty of justice, which it increasingly looks certain it wasn't, but as a barely-veiled expression of racial and cultural intolerance. It had the hallmarks of the hysteria of a former age, when the children's storybooks of the British Empire throbbed to the drumbeats of black savages pictured tying blonde white men and women up and lowering them, still in jodhpurs and pith helmets, into big black cooking pots. It reeked of the time when Western culture was obsessed with the idea of white slave trafficking; when every female tourist half-believed she'd be abducted by a passing sheikh and swept off to be a plaything among the Bedouin if she strayed but a step from her orderly tour guide's path.

Youre showing your age here granny. What does racial intolerance have to do with this? Are the racists here in Australia, hell yeah there are. Just like their are plenty of racists in Indonesia and every other country in the world. Look at how your own government has treated your indignenous peoples. I for one do not mention anything at all about any aspect of race AT ALL. It's got nothing to do with the fact Indonesians are a different race however it has everything to do with the fact that the majority of her supporters don't support such a ridiculous sentence. Being a causcasian myself let me be the first to that our own race has pathetically weak laws for serious crimes like rape, child abuse and murder. How can we stand by and let a young woman rot in jail when we set the above mentioned loose after what can only be described as a blink of an eye in jail.

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We, who are barely Christian in our beliefs any more, still feel a kind of Western class loyalty against the Muslim faith, which is now only as extreme as our own faith formerly was. We burned heretics by the trainload over points of doctrine, and tortured them by ever more savage and ingenious means to make them confess to wrongful thoughts that wouldn't raise an eyebrow today. We waged crusades against the Muslim world on specious pretexts, massacring innocents in their thousands. But all that history is forgotten now. We've become the saviours of whales, not of heathen souls. We're the good guys.

If anyone can explain what all that waffle means then please let me know - poor old rosemary seems to be bordering on delusional. "masacring inncocents" , "saving whales" , "burning heretics" - I mean COME ON rosemary what on earth are you going on about - this is 2006 not 1066. You've GOT to be kidding me!!!!

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They, on the other hand, are mostly dusky skinned. They, who still believe belief is important, are fanatics, their countries corrupt, and leaders venal. As for their justice systems - while ours is spotless, theirs, we believe, isn't worthy of the name. Muslim countries - and Indonesia is predominantly Muslim - are worthy of our tourist dollars, but not of the genuine tolerance of equals. We visit them conscious that our ways are the right ways, and theirs misguided. We're happy there so long as we can get drunk, and buy sex. And if we can smuggle drugs through the Muslim world, why wouldn't we?

This is the best part I reckon. Poor ol rosemary claims it is the Australian supporters of Schapelle that are racist yet just look at how she rants and raves and does her best to perpetuate every stereotypical myth that has ever existed. If we all hated ther Indonesians so much dear why did the Asutralian public just donate millions and millions of their own hard earned dollars to the tsunami victims!? Why do we continue to visit Indonesia in droves if we hate them so much. You surely dotn expect me to blief its so we can all get drunk and buy sex LOL - how ridiculous is that!!!

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I like to think that if the Corby case had happened in a bigger culture than Australasia, it would have been reported differently, that investigative journalists, those commendably curious and heartless individuals, would have dug away at the surface of the story and revealed much more about her background and her family than ever happened while her case was an active, ongoing media circus.

Still she lies. You cant help yourself can you Rosemary? When you are ready please let us know what you have on Schapelle's background that the rest of the world doesnt know about. What does she mean by "I like to think that if the Corby case had happened in a bigger culture than Australasia" ? You mean like in America? Yeah we all know everything gets reported in bigger cultures is the doctrine of truth!!! What total garbage you spew. As for calling them all "heartless" that is about the only thing I would agree with.

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So why didn't it happen here? Was it because journalists went along with public sentiment, rather than searching for the truth? Was it easier, and did it make for better headlines, when she was presented as an ingenue? I can't help wondering, now that more is known about her family circumstances, how long that information was available.

Umm I am not sure rosemary maybe it was because you were on holiday at the time? Afterall you are the only journalist capable of reporting any factual information. Or so you'd have us believe.

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It's interesting to compare Corby's charmed treatment with the equally tortuous media saga of Joanne Lees, the Englishwoman whose fiance Peter Falconio was murdered in Australia's outback, while she was abducted. The killer was convicted last month.

Quote:

Lees was also attractive to look at, but the media disliked her from the outset, who knows why? She had to face insulting innuendoes about whether she lied about the abduction, and the inference - long before the case was heard - that she might have known more about Falconio's death than she let on. She also suffered the public humiliation - again, well before the trial - of the revelation that she'd been unfaithful to her fiance.

Here you admit that Schapelle also suffered public humilation before her trial. So what actually did Schapelle do to make her deserve this? Why, because of what the media did in one trial, do we have to accept it in another. Honestly I don't think I have ever read more crap from one person.

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Maybe the media were worried about affecting the outcome of the Corby trial, but if they're capable of such delicacy of feeling, why didn't the same gallantry extend to Lees? Lees was innocent, a victim, but she was effectively tried in public as if she was a criminal. Corby, who may well have been guilty all along, was treated as if she was a saint.

Then again maybe that had absolutely nothing to do with it. The links you are attempting to make between these two cases only exist in your own over peroxided head.

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So is it drug-running that we're tolerant of, as opposed to sexual infidelity? Do we regard drugs as so trivial that trading in them should be treated as a misdemeanour, with other governments and cultures forced to share that indulgent view?

No you fool! WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!! Have you seen the treatment of the Bali 9 by the Australian public? Most aussies agree that they should alll be severly punished. No one at all considers heroin importation at all trivial nor a misdemeanor. As for Schapelle even if she was totally guilty NOONE can be expected to believe that 20 years in prison is an acceptable punishment. The same courts have given manifestly inadequate sentences to mass murderers.

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More likely we see the Corby case as illustrating an ongoing, unstated fear of the immigrants beating at our shores, who take life too seriously for our collective comfort, and pack their alarming certainties in their luggage.

It looks like you are the racist mate. How the heck you can say that about one of the most multicutural countries on the planet beggers belief!?!? Who "takes life too seriously"?? "Pack their alarming certainties in their luggage"??
What on earth does that even mean???

This is one of the worst, if not THE worst, pieces of writing I have EVER read.

Welcome to the HALL OF SHAME rosemary you are a DISGRACE to ALL humanity.

possum

I can't even read it... I got as far as the 1st para...

yep that one is gunna sit in the pit of my stomach for awhile.

Agreed...

Treasure your freedom Rosemary... and be careful what you wish for :eek:

Rob Thomas

Exactly the same problem as Possum. I managed to get about a third of the way in and it just started annoying me too much. It's one in the mornig and I'm kinda tired and I just couldn't be bothered with more. I then thought I would scroll down to Admins bagging for a quick laugh only to find he actually disected the hell out of it, and probably more than any other article to date.

Honestly Admin, I don't know how you keep it up, but I know why you do it.

Certainly got my laugh. lol :)


Rosemary Rosemary Rosemary

BeeSting

Oh God, when all else fails, journalists (and politicians) just HAVE to pull that stupid clichéd old "your racists" card. It's ridiculous, but it always works. I wouldn't care where Schapelle had been convicted, I'd still feel the same way about her case.

Incidentally, I'm a French immigrant (a white one admittedly and strictly speaking, I'm half~Irish, half French) and one reason I feel so strongly about this case is that almost the exact same thing that happened to Schapelle happened to a 27 year old French tourist in Bali named Michael Blanc in 2000. He flew from India to Denpasar airport at Christmas 1999, only to find that some "friend" had put almost 4 kilos of Hashish in his luggage. Like Schapelle, Michael Blanc's case got massive media attention in France, including a televised verdict just like Schapelle's, the threats of boycotts, loads of "Free Michael" websites etc. (Anyone who doubts me can look this up.)

I get irritated when people say, "If Schapelle were a guy, nobody would care". If enough people can see an injustice staring them straight in the face, they WILL care, whether you're male or female (although admittedly being young and good looking helps.)
Michael, who is widely believed to be innocent, got the same sentence Schapelle did (life in his case, but most people say that means 20 years, and he may be repatriated to France). He and Schapelle are in the same prison now. It's very sad.
(Sorry for going off on a tangent, but this case is worth looking up for anyone interested in judicial injustice.)
Blanc's mother said his case was so similar to Schapelle's, it was eerie.

Anyway, as for Rosemary ~ Puh! What. A. Load. Of. Bollocks. Also, I'd bet my life that she would never dream of condemning Australians worried about someone like David Hicks (for example) as 'racists' too. Which makes me wonder who the real racists are ~ those who question judiciary or judicial injustice where~ever it happens? or those who say people are always and only racist if they question judiciary in countries where most of the populace is Asian?

Say a miracle happened and who ever put the Cannabis in Schapelle Corby's boogie board bag walked into a police station in Bali and made a full, detailed and convincing confession to it, what are people like Rosemary gonna do? Call them racist?

BeeSting

As an immigrant here myself, I can swear that in all my experience living here, I've never, ever encountered ANY racism at all from an Aussie. (From a small minority of British people, yes, but never, ever from an Aussie! On the contrary, in fact.)

jase1

What are the odds that Schapelle would place the drugs in her bag in a rushed state with no effort to hide them, such as hiding them in a secret compartment or under her cloths in her larger bag?

And with no evidence, why would the Indonesian authorities lock Shapelle?

There are 2 reasons.

1.Indonesia follows the Dutch system whom colonized them. The law is “guilty until proven innocent”.

2. News reporters such as Rosemary McLeod who are unable to demonstrate any actual intelligence have made this into a case of racism. They made it seem like if the Indonesian authorities let her go, it would mean that Indonesia was giving into pressure from the West and that Indonesia treats white people better then black people.

True_Blue

Ta dahhh! I have a new entry for the Hall of Shame. I give you ...
*drumroll*

Sudirman Nasir in ...

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detail...223.E02&irec=2

I'll copy his column in this post, then my arguments for his inclusion in the HOS in the next post.

Why did Australians react differently to Bali Nine?
Sudirman Nasir, Melbourne

As an Indonesian who is currently living and studying in Australia, it is interesting to compare the reaction of Australians and Australian mass media towards the so-called 'Bali 9' members, to that of Schapelle Corby, Michelle Leslie and Nguyen Thuong Van.

Bali 9 is a media term used to refer to nine young Australians who were arrested by the Indonesian police in Denpasar last year for attempting to smuggle 20 kilograms of heroin into Australia.

The Denpasar District Court handed down life sentences for each of seven Bali 9 members, and the death penalty for the two ring leaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

It was obvious that most Australians expressed sympathy for Corby and Leslie, two Australian girls who were arrested and stood trial due for possession of drugs, marijuana and ecstasy respectively. Lower levels of sympathy were also demonstrated for Nguyen, another young Aussie who was hanged in Singapore in December 2005 after being found guilty of heroin smuggling. The cases of Corby, Leslie and Nguyen attracted enormous public debate and triggered emotional reactions, but such responses were all but absent for the Bali 9.

The results of a reader's poll conducted by The Age published on Feb. 16 revealed that despite the fact that two of the Bali 9 had been sentenced to death, 57 percent of respondents maintained that the punishment was not harsh enough. The result of the poll was surprising, especially as capital punishment has not been used in Australia since 1966.

Even Prime Minister John Howard refused to criticize the death penalty for Chan and Sukumaran. Howard warned that despite his excellent rapport with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, it was unlikely that the Indonesian leader would give the two drug smugglers clemency. So why do Australians have a different attitude towards the Bali 9?

Firstly, unlike Corby, the Bali 9 members were arrested with a large amount of heroin in their possession, a far more lethal drug compared to marijuana. Corby was arrested with approximately 4 kg of marijuana and Leslie with less than five pills of ecstasy. It was clear that the Bali 9, particularly Chan and Sukumaran, were frequent high-level drug traffickers.

Though Nguyen had been involved in heroin trafficking, the fact that it was his first time and his confession that he did it in a bid to pay off the debts of his twin brother, significantly distinguished him from high profile drug dealers like Chan and Sukumaran.

Secondly, the image of Corby, Leslie and Nguyen had successfully touched the hearts of many Australians. In the case of Corby and Leslie, the combination of beauty, gender and race inevitably made it easier for them to attract attention. Both Corby and Leslie were "telegenic" as Terry O'Gorman, the president of the Australian Council of Civil Liberties, put it. O'Gorman said, "I know it is a cynical thing to say, but they were white, female and pretty". (The Age, Feb. 18).
According to O'Gorman, "telegenic" refers to the images or people or events that can easily attract media attention, especially on commercial television. Moreover, in the case of Nguyen, an Australian young man of Vietnamese descent, although he was not as "telegenic" as Corby and Leslie, the role of Melbourne barrister Lex Lasry to transform the image of Nguyen into a good and naive boy who tried his best to help his bad twin brother had the effect of creating a more positive media image for him.

The Bali 9 have no such image, and efforts to promote a positive image of them have not been successful. The efforts of some parents of the Bali 9, especially Christine Rush, the mother of one of the drug mules, Scott Rush, to change the term 'Bali 9' to the 'Australian 9', were aimed at depicting them as young and naive Australians who were trapped by an international drug syndicate.

<< then some particularly embarrassing filler, which should not be allowed to take up space here >>

The writer is a postgraduate student at the University of Melbourne

True_Blue

Hall of Shame arguments (see previous post)

1. Most of the article is ripped off from Geoff Strong’s article in the Age of 6 days earlier – Losing the Sympathy Stakes.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/nation...151810063.html

Strong’s article focuses on the bleeding obvious or the widely assumed, but compared to Nasir’s dumbed down version it is a landmark of insight and analysis.

2. He repeats Strong’s claim that 57% of Australians polled thought the punishments for the Bali nine were not too harsh, but converts it to 57% of Australians polled thought the punishments were not harsh enough.

3. Nasir claimed that Prime Minister Howard had “warned that despite his excellent rapport with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, it was unlikely that the Indonesian leader would give the two drug smugglers clemency.” That’s wrong too. The prime minister actually held out hope that Bali nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran could escape the death penalty, saying Indonesia had not been as rigid in its commitment to the death penalty for drug smugglers as Singapore had. But, he said, his friendship with President Yudhoyono would not necessarily sway the case.

4. Then we get onto the question of why Australians have a different attitude towards the Bali 9 than Schapelle, Michelle and Nguyen. Naturally our boy’s argument is ripped off from Strong, but whereas Strong has recognised the difficulties in some of his arguments and attempted to find ways around those difficulties, Nasir presents us with half-witted gobbledegook. It goes like this …

Firstly, the Bali 9 members had heroin whereas the others had marijuana [except for Michelle and Nguyen who didn’t]

Secondly, Corby, Leslie and Nguyen were "telegenic" except for Nguyen who wasn’t, but whose lawyer worked hard to present him as a nice boy. [Which is of course what Scott Rush’s lawyer tried to do for him but we didn’t like him even though he was more ‘telegenic’ than Nguyen. ]

[In making those first two point, Nasir seems strangely unaware of how little sympathy Michell Leslie had in Australia despite having only a minute quantity of a recreational drug, and being ‘telegenic’. Never let the facts spoil a good story.]

5. In amongst, all this twaddle published in the Jakarta Post, Nasir claims that “it was clear that the Bali 9, particularly Chan and Sukumaran, were frequent high-level drug traffickers.” No doubt this will be valuable previously unpresented information for the Appeal Court judges to ponder on when deciding whether to spare Chan and Sukumaran from the death penalty. Nice one Nasir, you twat!

So that’s it from me. I submit that Sudirman Nasir has earned his place in the hall of shame and that there is no reason for the University of Melbourne to take any great pride that he is one of it’s postgraduate students.

jase1

Another writer without a brain of his own having to resort to rambling on the same things we have heard a dozen times before. I sent him this letter:

Hello,

Re: Your article entitled: Why did Australians react differently to Bali Nine?

Most Australians hadn't heard of Nguyen Thuong Van until just weeks before his death sentence was executed.

Michelle Leslie received a lot of criticism in the media. Now she is having problems finding work.

What are the odds that a women would stuff a large bag of cannabis in her bag with no effort to conceal it, such as placing it in her larger bag under cloths or in a secret compartment? With no evidence, Schapelle received the sentence she did because of Indonesia's law based on the Dutch system - guilty until proven innocent. And more importantly because of reporters such as yourself who turned this into a race issue.

If Indonesian judges hadn't given her a harsh sentence, they would have been accused of giving into pressures from the West and of treating whites more favourably over the native blacks.

You also failed to mention that Schapelle refused to pay up in bribe money and hence one of the Indonesian judges was forced to make a public apology. It is that type of corruption that has caused the Australian outcry.

The Bali 9 are getting a huge amount of support in the media and from the public. Based on what statics have you found otherwise?

Did Christine Rush confirm that she wanted to change the term 'Bali 9' to the 'Australian 9' for the purpose of "depicting them as naive Australians who were trapped by an international drug syndicate"? If it is an assumption, it throws all your credibility out the window.

Regards,
Jase