One of the highlights of TV comedy in 2006 was the Chaser selling 'Official Canterbury Bulldogs Supporters Gear' including rohipnol, knuckle-dusters and balaclavas. Chas won the case (thank goodness for judgment with commonsense! Here's the story from news.com.au


COMEDIAN Chas Licciardello has vowed to appeal all the way to the Jedi Council after a Sydney magistrate dimissed a charge of offensive conduct against him for a stunt at a Bulldogs NRL game.

Sutherland Local Court Magistrate Joanne Keogh threw out the charge against Licciardello, which arose from a sketch for the satirical ABC TV program The Chaser's War on Everything, after viewing a 50-minute tape of the prank.

"I can't ignore the fact that overwhelmingly the crowd responded to the accused's conduct as if it were a joke, which it was - although it may not have been a joke to everyone's liking," Ms Keogh told the court.

Licciardello was filmed outside Kogarah's Jubilee Stadium on July 14 last year as fans gathered for the Canterbury Bulldogs' clash with St George-Illawarra. Dressed in blue and white Bulldogs gear, he offered to sell supporters fake knuckledusters, a rubber knife, balaclavas, imitation flares and boxes labelled as rohypnol, a drug used in date rapes. He touted the items, which were decorated in team colours, as "official Bulldogs merchandise".

Although Licciardello offered his wares to nearby police officers, they intervened only after several fans became aggressive towards him.

The stunt aimed to send up crowd violence that had erupted at Bulldogs games, but police alleged it was offensive, saying some of the weapons looked real.

However, Ms Keogh said Licciardello was polite and courteous and most fans "were good-natured and appeared to share the joke". She dismissed the charge, saying reasonable people would not have been offended by the prank. "Seeing as this was a comedy sketch, I don't believe they would regard it as offensive," Ms Keogh said. "The fact that one group of people didn't appreciate the joke, were insulted, doesn't necessarily prove the conduct was offensive."

Defence barrister Stephen Russell sought costs for the ABC, arguing that police had charged Licciardello as "a knee-jerk reaction" and pressed ahead with the prosecution without reviewing the videotaped evidence. But Ms Keogh rejected his application, saying: "It definitely wasn't a case in which there was never any prospect of a conviction."

Licciardello emerged from court draped in the Australian flag and said he was off to the Big Day Out music concert - a reference to a controversy over a flag ban at the event. He vowed to appeal the magistrate's decision all the way to the Jedi Council.
"I'd just like to say how deeply disappointed we are with the court's decision," he said.
"We will not rest until this injustice has been corrected. We will be appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, to the High Court, to the UN, to the Jedi Council and to the snickometer."

Told he had in fact had a victory in court, Licciardello said: "I'm sorry, I didn't actually prepare any material for the off-chance that we won."

Premier Morris Iemma, who at the time of the prank called it "grossly irresponsible" and "well beyond just having a joke", today accepted the magistrate's decision. "It's a decision of the courts; the proper process has worked its way through," he said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,21104976-2,00.html

Labels: Fun, Politics, Ripped Off

Not sure how much press David Hicks has got outside of Australia, but he is an Australia who was captured in Afghanistan and taken to camp X-Ray at Guantanimo Bay. He's been there for 5 years now, still held without charge. Saw this article on news.com.au yesterday about the legal team trying to get David Hicks home. I dont think he's completely innocent, but think 5 years is a long time to be couped up without charge, so charge in a legal court or let the guy go on hiw way, that's my stance.... but you've got to love the irony in the statement by his lawyer on radio:

"Hicks' Adelaide-based lawyer David McLeod said earlier on ABC radio that he hoped to have Hicks home by Christmas."

Christmas? Seriously? Hicks was detained on the premise of fighting in a jihad on the West after converting to Islam. Now they want him back in time for Christmas?!? I'm not sure how a jihadist feels about being back in time to see the gluttony of pre-christmas (or god-forbid [any god] the Boxing day sales!)

Here's the article: Court allows urgent Hicks case. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20880915-2,00.html

Labels: Fun, Holidays, Politics

I used to be pretty good at geography, and wasn't too bad at history either, but when Westy said he was going to the middle east I found myself right out of my depths. And whenever things come up on why Israel and Palestine/Lebanon/etc are fighting, the classic aussie-brain-surgeon/talk-back-radio-listener decides to throw in the old "it's happened for hundreds of years, they're just stupid and should get over it" line. But I can honestly say i knew very little of the amount of change that has occured there. Being in Australia, it can be a bit strange to think about having a history rather than the thought of 'it was not anyone's land until the english arrived'.

So, for those who were ignorant like me, here's an interesting history of the middle east and who has ruled over it in the last 5,000 years

Or check official page

Labels: Brett Gibson, Politics, Ripped Off

A fan of benevolent dictators and with a firm plan on how I would benefit Australia with an interior sea (I might type it up one day, but will fill in anyone on the plan over a beer), I thought this post by Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) was pretty cool.


How to Rule the World (By Scott Adams)

I spend a lot of time trying to figure out the easiest way to become the emperor of the world. The key word here is “easiest” because I’m not willing to put in all the time killing opponents that it would take to do it the traditional way.

So here’s my latest idea. I wait for an American election year when there’s no obvious choice for our next president. The upcoming election fits that description. Then I identify the most popular person in the country who refuses to run for president. For the sake of my example, let’s say that person is Oprah.

Then I form my own political party named Oprah’s Trained Monkey and run for the presidency myself. My platform would be “whatever Oprah tells me.” So in effect, voting for me would get you all of the same decisions and policies as if Oprah herself were president. I would promise to consult Oprah on all decisions and do whatever she recommended. The great thing is that no one would even care what Oprah’s opinion are. Voters would figure that Oprah is smart and caring and honest and unaffected by special interests, so how bad can her policies be?

I assume that Oprah would object to this concept. She might even tell everyone not to vote for me. But that would make Oprah even more beloved because it would prove she is not seeking power. Voters eat up that sort of crap.

In the televised debates, whenever it was my turn I would just shrug and say, “I dunno. I’d do whatever Oprah tells me. And by the way, each of you will find an iPod under your chair.”

Once elected, I would break my campaign promise of obeying Oprah. There’s no law against changing your mind. At that point I would be the leader of the world’s biggest superpower. Then I’d just start annexing other countries. There would be no military action involved, just some highly publicized document signing ceremonies involving no one but me. Then I would grant the citizens in that annexed country a tax rebate and tell them they can collect it any time they like. No hurry.

So the citizens of Cuba, for example, would each get $1,000 if they can figure out how to collect it. That’s serious money in Cuba, especially if you are a family of five. There are about 12 million Cubans, so that’s only 12 billion dollars. America can afford that. Then we just sit back and wait for the coup. Once Cuba becomes a state, their economy would improve through capitalism and we’d more than recover the investment in tax revenues.

I’d need a slightly different strategy for the richer countries. For example, Great Britain might not agree to statehood for $1,000 per citizen. I’d have to sweeten the pot by reminding the British males that American girls can’t resist their accents. I’d agree to subsidize airline travel to the mainland so they can take advantage of unlimited American poontang. That would free up the British women to date French guys. Everyone wins.

Labels: Brett Gibson, Politics, Ripped Off, World Domination