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CERTITUDE IMPOSSIBLE
Niagara Falls Reporter editor Iron Mike Hudson is sticking to his plastic guns:
Neither Tim Blair nor any of his rather comical fans ... has any more idea of whether that turkey was real than I do. At this point, it is impossible to know, with 100 percent certitude.
In his column, Hudson was 100 percent certain the thing was plastic. Perhaps Mike will defer to the New York Times, Bloomberg, or the Los Angeles Times on this. Not that they’re particularly reliable, but evidently they’re a little sharper than a certain waterfall-based weekly when it comes to poultry analysis.
Some background for Hudson, who promises a Monday column on his online schooling: the very first report about this turkey caper noted that the bird was real. The plastic myth came to be through the fantasies of a British columnist, and was thereafter taken up by these muppets.
One more thing: ever since Mike threatened to come down here and smack me upside the head, I’ve been training with the elite Australian Cougar Arts Federation. Heed the words of instructor Barry Dawson:
A lot of kids come into our school because they’re wanting to kick someone’s arse. I don’t teach that. I usually instruct that you should kick the knee or groin. Then, when they’re on the ground, rolling around, you can consider the arse.
Tim’s page has been viewed 4,956,245 times.
The Niagara Falls Reporter has been viewed 1,050,813 times (in 6 1/2 years, since July 3, 2000, an average of 446 views per day).Come on Tim, pick on someone your own size. The Reporter is obviously some kind of “produced in a basement” vanity project, put out once a week, in a podunk town.
The idea that Mike Hudson would have enough scratch in the bank to afford a R/T ticket from Buffalo, NY to Sydney, AUS, is almost laughable. (Around $2,400 per Travelocity.) Besides, he probably couldn’t get anyone to cover his shifts at his part-time job at the local McDonalds.
Posted by David Crawford on 2006 12 16 at 03:14 PM • permalinkNeither Tim Blair nor any of his rather comical fans ... has any more idea of whether that turkey was real than I do. At this point, it is impossible to know, with 100 percent certitude.
I see. Make an extraordinary claim, see it denied, then say neither position can be conclusively proven. Otherwise known as the “Dan Rather defense.”
Here’s one for Big Brave Mike, if he’s got the stones to come back here for more clue-batting:
The right-wing apologists at The Washington Post say turkey was real.
Speaking of things “it is impossible to know, with 100 percent certitude,” here’s Iron Mike on the 1965 U.S. East Coast blackout:
The basic facts of the incident are well known. At 5:16 p.m. on Nov. 9, 1965, 30 million people in eight U.S. states and the province of Ontario were suddenly plunged into darkness.
So far, so good.
The relationship between the blackout and reported UFO activity wasn’t lost on the scientific community.
In a statement prepared for hearings held on the blackout by the Federal Power Commission, University of Arizona physicist Dr. James McDonald contended that magnetic fields accompanying UFOs could cause sudden power surges and could, theoretically, trigger a blackout.
You mean, it was space aliens what done it?
Perhaps predictably, USAF Information Officer Thomas White said he knew nothing about the UFOs.
So, what’s your point?
It is interesting to note that the Air Force employed a device to disrupt electrical power in the city of Belgrade during the Kosovo war. Could some early testing of a similar device have resulted in the 1965 blackout?
Actually they were testing the Plastic Turkey.
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 03:32 PM • permalinkTim to Mike in Best Bogan accent: “That’s not a didgeridoo, this is a didgeridoo!”
At the risk of being guffawed, japed, and tsk’ed as a sad bastard, I’d like to cut Mike Hudson a bit of slack.The guy is really not a bad sort. His initial note to Tim was a joke, fer crying out loud, even if that wasn’t readily apparent to everyone. I even give the guy credit for coming back for extra kicks later after being “unbanned” (Thank you, Andrea).
Yeah, he’s wrong about the turkey and maybe he doesn’t see Iraq in the same Big Picture terms that we do but he’s really not a squishy liberal at all. Hell, I’ve got gun toting Republican friends that never bought into the Iraqi phase of this war but that doesn’t make ‘em bad people.
As for some of his later posts, I think Mike’s just pushing back to take the piss. Of course, Monday’s column may characterize Tim’s Blog and readers in totally unfair terms but who among us hasn’t made assumptions of Lefty blogs based on the comments of a minority.
I hope Mike sticks around and adds another shade of opinion here in a less confrontational manner. I probably won’t agree with him but the give and take could be fun.
I could write more but these italics have already cost a fortune and money’s tight just before Christmas…
JDB—I assume you were writing your post while the one about the 1965 blackout was written. The guy’s a nutcase.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2006 12 16 at 03:38 PM • permalink#9 JDB - I agree that the guy is probably just a harmless goofball, essentially a cab driver who decided to own and operate a birdcage liner. As to offering “another shade of opinion”, yeah, I expect he would, but I don’t know that uninformed opinion would add a lot. Still, it’s kind of difficult to see how having a feisty, lefty windbag drop in from time to time wouldn’t be fun. It would be raw meat for the comment carnivores.
But if he and Tim get in a cyber duel, Mighty Mike hasn’t got a chance. All Hudson has to do is click on that link for the Australian Cougar Arts Federation and he’ll encounter, as I did, the Nibbling Wallaby of Death: my computer locked up faster than a homeowner who’s just seen a Seventh Day Adventist coming up the walkway with a sack full of pamphlets.
Well, if people are worried about Mike being outclassed by Tim, just refer Hudson to a professional on being outclassed: Antony Loewenstein.
Anti-Bush weekly rag editor, meet anti-semitic rookie book author.
A match made in heaven!
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 12 16 at 04:15 PM • permalinkOh, please. He’s sloppy, partisan hack running a 4th rate weekly who refuses to correct an obvious mistake. And Niagara Falls is far from “small-town America.” It’s a city of about 56,000 people in the Buffalo-Niagara Region, a metropolitan area with a population of about 1.1 million.
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 05:21 PM • permalinkWhat makes you people so sure Mike Hudson is real?
Posted by Paul Zrimsek on 2006 12 16 at 05:45 PM • permalinkAt this point I find myself in agreement with David Crawford.
Making fun of Margo and Antony is good clean fun because they’re Moonbats who enjoy a sort of undeserved national prominence. But Hudson has fewer readers than many blogs. His revenues probably wouldn’t even cover the italics budget at Webdiary. (There’s doesn’t either, but that’s a different issue.)
If Tim is going to put Hudson on the Turkey Roll he might as well add the entire plastic-turkey-believing left side of the blogosphere—like this political science professor over at BuzzFlash.
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 06:03 PM • permalinkAs the cow said to the calf, “Just chewing my cud, son.”
Seriously, the name’s pretty obviously a pseudonym made up by a steam-locomotive enthusiast.
Posted by Paul Zrimsek on 2006 12 16 at 06:04 PM • permalink#12 Why no, Rob, I haven’t read the 1965 Blackout story. Let me click on the link… (returning from story…eyes dart quickly about, mutters Ralph Kramden-esque ‘hummana hummana’ while wiping flop sweat)...Did I mention that my gun toting Republican friends are in the State Mental Hospital? No?
Well, assuming space aliens did cause the Blackout, we must ask ourselves why they hate us!
Or perhaps a East Coast blackout canceling classes in New Haven would be a “little too convenient” for a young Yale freshman who had partied too hard at the Skull & Bones? Hmmmm?
Or perhaps…
Look! A anti-Bush demonstrator pushing a stroller! (runs from room…starts car…drives off into Saturday night cocktail hour)
Then, when they’re on the ground, rolling around, you can consider the arse.
best quote ever
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2006 12 16 at 06:14 PM • permalinkI have tried to find a realistic plastic or model turkey for purchase on the Internet and so far come up empty.
Perhaps Mr Rove tried to find a plastic turkey for Mr Bush to serve, but like me, was unable to find a suitable specimen.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 12 16 at 07:10 PM • permalinkHey, Tim, I’m just downstream from Niagara. Would you like me to go down and educate the lad?
What is noteworthy here is that Niagara has been brought to the attention of Australians and Australia has been brought to the attention of Niagarans.
Tourism will prosper.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2006 12 16 at 07:18 PM • permalinkWimpy, we couldn’t ask you such a thing. You shouldn’t be required to subject yourself to the humiliation.
Niagara Falls, Canada is an extremely nice place, full of decent bars and restaurants (if a trifle schlocky—it is a tourist trap, after all), a clean and enjoyable park, and a good view of the falls.
Niagara Falls, US is a grimy, second-class burg with nothing to attract the visitor, not even a decent view of the falls. Don’t go there. Passing through is annoying but permissible. The park is OK if the vandals haven’t been by recently, but not worth a special trip. That’s especially true if you have to pass US Customs and Immigration, at the very best extremely annoying.
Note that I am and have always been an American citizen, and I have plenty of criticisms of Canada. In this case, though, the Maple Leaf side is clearly superior.
Regards,
Ric#21 Bruce, I read through Buzzflash’s article, and it took stamina.
My opinion is that he doesn’t have the intellectual, moral and physical fortitude and stamina to maintian a
vegetable garden,garden lawn let alone an argument or, more to the poitn, long duratuion cofnlict. He is the exemplar of a suburban sophist who doesn’t understand whr5e milk ocmes from.Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2006 12 16 at 07:36 PM • permalink#34 de-typoed:
#21 Bruce, I read through Buzzflash’s article, and it took stamina.
My opinion is that he doesn’t have the intellectual, moral and physical fortitude and stamina to maintain a
vegetable garden,garden lawn let alone an argument or, more to the point, long duration conflict. He is the exemplar of a suburban sophist who doesn’t understand where milk comes from.Goodness, bolds ARE expensive,.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2006 12 16 at 07:41 PM • permalink#31 Ian, what I notice about you photos is that there are no people. From that, can I assume that Australia is very lightly populated, like Canda?
Or is it that Australians are small and un-noteworthy? :-)
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2006 12 16 at 07:48 PM • permalink#34 He’s long on opinion and short on facts. He needs the U.S. to lose because success would mean that Bush is right. This will mark the second straight year in which already low American casualties will have decreased, but the hysterical hand-wringing only gets louder.
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 08:00 PM • permalink#33 On my round the world
journey of self discoverybackpacker adventure I went out of my way to visit Niagara falls. I would have to say that your description and comparison to the Canadian side is to the point. After cruising Europe (I missed the party on the Berlin Wall by 12 days!) and eastern Europe in particular I had grown rather disillusioned with my former (eighties) life as a member of the NDP. Capitalism as a mechanism for removing the ills of life was looking good.Then I went to New York (pre Guiliani) and Niagara Falls, which led to a temporary resurgence of my ‘Death to America’ mindset, before it was totally destroyed by spending time in Illinois, Colorado, Nevada (viva Los Vegas!), Arizona, New Mexico and California where I met some of the best people on earth.
Poor Mike Hudson. I went to his UFOs-over-Niagara-Falls article and found (among other things) this:
On Aug. 4, 1966, the Gazette reported “Bright, high-flying, fast moving objects observed during the night and similarly described by three Niagara Falls residents.”
Sounds like airplane lights. Is Niagara Falls on the flight path to some major airport? Toronto or Buffalo perhaps? I grew up on Long Island (flight path for both LaGuardia and JFK airports) and saw ‘em all the time. Also heard ‘em. When the windows were open we’d have to stop talking when the planes were overhead because the roar was so loud.
Oh yes - plastic turkeys - they’ve got one in the Art Institute of Chicago, in the kiddie section (it’s a whole plastic Thanksgiving-dinner display copied from some painting or other). Doesn’t look like the real thing for a moment. Too pale, and too uniform in color.Posted by Sonetka's Mom on 2006 12 16 at 08:08 PM • permalink“I’d like to cut Mike Hudson a bit of slack.”
Hey, screw that. The guy’s a lying sack of shit.
On Tim’s weblog he claimed the following…
“As a veteran, (U.S. Army 1974-76 and currently a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars)...”
But, elsewhere on the internet he claims…
“But, in what would become a pattern for years to come, internal strife began taking its toll. We’d argue about what songs to do, about who was least competent and anything else we could think of. We played a dance at Wickliffe High School, where Brian, Chas and the bass player were students, and things went badly. I can’t remember what the final blowout was about, but we decided to break up the band in May, 1975.”
“I joined the Army then, and spent that summer shooting automatic weapons and marching around the friendly confines of Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Jesus it was hot. And they were always yelling at me. After about six months I was granted a reprieve and sent home.”
What an ass.
He apparently wasn’t in the army from 1974-76, and he sure as hell doesn’t qualify for membership in the VFW. He’s a bullshit artist, lying about his military record (if he was in the army at all, it sounds like they tossed his ass out after a few months…big surprise), and also about what has transpired in Iraq.
No slack for assholes like that.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2006 12 16 at 08:17 PM • permalinkBtw, I accidentlly posted the above on two threads.
My apologies. This is where it was supposed to go.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2006 12 16 at 08:18 PM • permalinkDamn, have I ever missed out on the fun…
I really hate it when work interferes with my blog surfing.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 12 16 at 08:33 PM • permalinkAFAIK Mike was taken to task over his lack of fact-checking re the ‘plastic turkey’; he could have just as easily made such a swipe at some other similar far off (to him) place like South Africa with his obvious ignorance.
He may have the internet but appears to be blissfuly unaware of the global community and globalisation e.g.: over 1 Million? Aussies working OS; Sydney is the Asia-Pacific hub for most global companies, etc.
I too have travelled to the US (& elsewhere) working for global Co.s and met fellow Aussies living and working OS, often hired directly from Aus for their expertise.
I agree that the average US & Aussie are much alike: pioneer spirit, big nation, big cars, big houses and accompanying generous attitude.
This dude needs to get out more.This dude needs to get out more.
Now egg_, you know how frightening that is for the Tin Foil Hat Brigade, of which our new friend Mike is clearly a charter member.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 12 16 at 08:37 PM • permalinkHmmm. How old was Wronwright in 1965?
Wrong question, paco. Better to see if the keys to the Tardis are where they are supposed to be.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 12 16 at 08:38 PM • permalink#44 And here Mike says he left the Army in ‘75.
it was a little surprising to get a letter—as many here did—from the Department of Veterans Affairs, an outfit I hadn’t heard from since leaving the Army back in 1975.
And they don’t just give you a “reprieve” after six months. Mike got his ass booted from the service. Drugs?
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 08:42 PM • permalinkNeither Tim Blair nor any of his rather comical fans ... has any more idea of whether that turkey was real than I do. At this point, it is impossible to know, with 100 percent certitude.
But the propaganda can be tracked back to its point of origin and is recorded in documentation available to any and all that care to look.
Ok, what’d I miss, miss read or misunderstand?
But the propaganda can be tracked back to its point of origin and is recorded in documentation available to any and all that care to look.
Facts be damned, Grimmy, Truth™ is what they’re after.
Uh… yeah, right. Truthiness is in the eye of the believer?
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 12 16 at 08:48 PM • permalink#44 You’re right. If Mike entered the Army no earlier than May of ‘75 and left the Army in ‘75, there’s no way he is eligible for VFW membership.
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 08:52 PM • permalink#30 I have tried to find a realistic plastic or model turkey for purchase on the Internet and so far come up empty
Eureka! I have found it!
You can order one up from Iwasaki Images of America.
A whole roasted turkey will set you back a mere $US170.78. But you will need two whole roasted drumsticks as well as they appear to be not included. At $US65.78 each, you should be able to pick up a complete off-the-shelf model for a tad over $US300 plus shipping and handling. Trimmings not included.
A custom-built model for that special occasion? Price on application.
#57 The Pagans is a name for an outlaw motorcycle gang, not a pantywaist club band.
Don’t piss off a real Pagan because, “reprisal from a Pagan consists usually of a .38 caliber double automatic Colt, two shots in the back of the head, stomping on the victim Just like a fish wrapped up in newspaper.”
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 09:18 PM • permalink#58, Bruce Rheinstein:
I believe that method of execution is reserved only for those whom the Pagans have some respect.
The general population (and especially those that seriously attract their attention) often take a few days to finally shuffle off, and quite probably get buried minus a few parts and pieces.
he represents small-town America -its feistiness and independence - which gives the USA its special character
Feistiness and independence? Nastiness and paranoia, rather.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 12 16 at 09:44 PM • permalink#41 Sonetka’s Mom:
On Aug. 4, 1966, the Gazette reported “Bright, high-flying, fast moving objects observed during the night and similarly described by three Niagara Falls residents.”
Sounds like airplane lights. Is Niagara Falls on the flight path to some major airport?
It sure was in 1966. I used to often fly my 707 over Niagara Falls on my way from JFK to SFO. Just checked my log book to see if I was under Wronwright’s orders on the night of Aug 3, 1966. Sadly no, but I was there a month later on September 4, 1966.
From memory, I have only seen the place once in daylight, again from 35,000 feet, and it looked remarkably like a (flushed) shit hole from that height. The big surprise was to see that the flush was flowing from the south-east towards the north-west. Until then, I had always assumed that Canada was all north of the USA.
Perhaps My Kudson can tell us how much he knows about my home town.From the same Niagara Falls Reporter article that broke the story about the UFO’s and the Blackout of ‘65.
And while the tales of the dozen or so daredevils who did or did not survive their plunges over the falls are regurgitated with astonishing regularity, scant attention has been paid to the stories of literally thousands of tortured souls who have thrown themselves into the roiling waters with no thought whatsoever of coming out alive.
A bit too dark, maybe. Wouldn’t want to scare the tourists
Maybe. It also may have something to do with
press responsibility....the Press Council expressed its belief that almost all papers have treated suicides with restraint and responsibility. The Council had also had responses from most of the major papers which indicated that they are all aware of the desirability of avoiding
extra pain for relatives and friends;
any encouragement of copy-cat suicides; and
unnecessary details of method, or place.A concept that is alive and well in New York State.
Certain ways of describing suicide in the news contribute to what is called “suicide contagion” or “copycat suicides.” This is especially potent within the adolescent population. (See Chapter on Adolescents for more information)
Research suggests that inadvertently romanticizing suicide or idealizing those who take their own lives by portraying suicide as a heroic or romantic act may encourage others to identify with the victim.
Exposure to suicide method through media reports can encourage vulnerable individuals to imitate it. Clinicians warn the danger is even greater if there is a detailed description of the method. Research indicates that pictures or other detailed information of the site of a suicide also encourages imitation.
Hopefully this is a concept that has penetrated the skulls of amateur history writers and local media editors around Niagara Falls. Of all places.
Afterall churning out a silly rag about parking meters, aliens and plastic turkeys is one thing. Having blood on your hands is something else again.
#33 Ric: Your comparison between the Canadian and US Niagara Falls confirms a long held theory of mine. You Yanks should have let the Brits stay for another couple of hundred years, as we did in Canada and Australia.
Just think, if you had, you could then be spending this summer beating the shit out of the Poms at cricket. So much pleasure for so little loss of life.
#44 Okay, Mike explains his membership status in the VFW as follows: “...I have never served in any foreign conflict and so have been given the status of ‘social’ members.”
That must be a local chapter thing. Anyway, that’s not what he implied when he wrote, “As a veteran, (U.S. Army 1974-76 and currently a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars)...”
And there’s still the question of his claimed dates of service. Is it ‘74-‘76 or just late ‘75?
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 11:10 PM • permalinkDespite all the grief we’re giving him, Mike’s actually a talented writer when he’s not writing about plastic turkeys and UFOs. For example, the piece I linked to about his becoming a social member of the VFW is pretty amusing.
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2006 12 16 at 11:19 PM • permalinkHey, now you mention it…I kinda like Mike too.
Who the hell does “Tim Blair” think he is giving Mike a hard time anyway?
We like Mike!
We like Mike!
We like Mike!Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 12 17 at 12:15 AM • permalinkStrange kind of journalist, this Mike Hudson. Hear he suddenly has the ear of many people from a country he’s never been to and knows nothing about - a marvelous educational opportunity has emerged. Yet he pisses it away in insults and threats. I suppose if he’s going to stick with the fake turkey thing, he’s going to be just as obtuse in other areas. A pity, beacuase a parochial backwoods town like Niagara Falls deserves a better window on the much bigger outside world than journalists of Mike’s ilk can deliver.
Posted by AlburyShifton on 2006 12 17 at 12:38 AM • permalink‘#44 Okay, Mike explains his membership status in the VFW as follows: “...I have never served in any foreign conflict and so have been given the status of ‘social’ members.”’
So, he doesn’t qualify for membership, but his friends got him in the club anyway.
That’s what I call impressive…and honest.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2006 12 17 at 01:36 AM • permalinkJust another Plastic Turkler. Sillier than most, though.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2006 12 17 at 03:26 AM • permalink#49, The_Real_JeffS:
Nonsense! Clearly, this blackout was the result of Dalek activity.
Posted by Tungsten Monk on 2006 12 17 at 03:29 AM • permalinkAs a veteran, (U.S. Army 1974-76 and currently a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars) there’s nothing I hate worse than seeing the Armed Forces of this country used so badly by the chicken hawks currently in charge…
he was certainly trying to decieve.
does this mean if i go play bingo at the rsl (returned servicemens league) tonight i can apply for some kind of medal?
will there be a ceremony and brass bands etc?
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2006 12 17 at 05:12 AM • permalinkOkay, I’m back from cocktail hour and very hammered so I’m typing slowly…
I received a very nice email from Mike Hudson. As I suspected, our paths crossed back in the poonk rock days of yore and his band, The Pagans, were actually quite kick ass in a Stooges kinda way and a seminal Midwest act. He’s not a kid being in his 50’s now but more like Cleveland’s sorta Johnny Rotten.
That doesn’t excuse his mistaken take on contemporary world events (I own Midnight Oil records but know Peter Garrett’s a goof, politically speaking…)
Based on what he wrote to me, I don’t think Mike is a Monbiot/Fisk-type but rather a provocateur in the old punk vein who throws shit out there to stir it up. It turns out he caused a minor shit storm in the US a couple of years ago by saying some unkind things about Rush Limbaugh’s addiction. Extremely trivial stuff but some Rightwingers made it a cause celebre for a couple of days.
In a very real sense, I can’t be bothered with what guys like Mike are doing because I really think that whether Republican or Democratic in 2008, we’ll be fighting the Moojis and Hajjis and in the totality of history, Mike’s opinions will be a goofy footnote like the Union Party or the America First Committee.
Persuading the Skate Boarding and Futon purchasing locals of a disused Northeastern American city that the war is lost will not, in the grand scheme of things, keep or condemn our Republic.
This war is very real and on multiple fronts and the George W days will be remembered wistfully when some Democrat (Hillary?) is scrambling to avenge another attack.
JDB - You make more sense hammered than Huddo does sober (I assume he was sober…).
I bow to your greater acquaintance of the idiot, but he’s still may have a problem with his claimed military record and some of his shit-throwing anti-American comments require him to be deposited head-first in the shit bucket for a few hours (and I’m an Aussie!)
Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 12 17 at 06:09 AM • permalinkWe have a site in Australia named ANZMI (Australian and New Zealand Military Impostors). Can’t do the link, sorry, but it’s worth a visit to see the kinds of sorry lowlife who claim service in the Vietnam era and the 1st gulf war, then go on to build careers and reputations on a lie. Their existence, like hudson’s, is an insult to anyone who ever did the real thing.
Would the Niagara Falls Reporter be a similar esteemed publication to the Outback Gulargumbone Gazette by any chance?
#76, I was thinking more along the lines of the Springfield Shopper.
Posted by Art Vandelay on 2006 12 17 at 07:07 AM • permalink#82- a world of wannabes- funny to see john pilger seems to have lapped one of these creeps stories up
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2006 12 17 at 07:25 AM • permalink#84
eeniemeenie, can you give me details? I loathe pilger. Knew him when we were both starting out in the media. He’s a traitor to his country, his culture and the ethics of honest journalism (yes!!they exist and some of us actually work within the guidelines). If the creep concerned hasn’t been dobbed to ANZMI, I’ll do it myself. (My husband is a former infantryman who lost good mates. These people are shit on their shoes).
Certain ways of describing suicide in the news contribute to what is called “suicide contagion” or “copycat suicides.” This is especially potent within the adolescent population. (See Chapter on Adolescents for more information)
Research suggests that inadvertently romanticizing suicide or idealizing those who take their own lives by portraying suicide as a heroic or romantic act may encourage others to identify with the victim.
Exposure to suicide method through media reports can encourage vulnerable individuals to imitate it. Clinicians warn the danger is even greater if there is a detailed description of the method. Research indicates that pictures or other detailed information of the site of a suicide also encourages imitation.
Gee, sounds like the dynamic of school shootings as well, dunnit? Could whomever put this self-imposed gag rule in place now apply it to coverage of school shootings and their maudlin anniversaries?
Mr. Hudson most probably is a product of the environment in which he exists (and if he’s decidedly lefty, then nothing is ever due to self determination and this rule holds firm). Niagara Falls NY is a city that has been in tremendous decline. In spite of many attempts towards urban renewal, the money seems to get “lost”. The sad fact is, some of the real estate that it borders, the Falls themselves, Goat Island, Ongiara Trail, is breathtakingly spectacular. NFNY was always largely an industrial town, where people with average or below average levels of education could get good jobs, but typical of many cities from MIchigan to Maine, this isn’t so anymore.
I grew up in Niagara County, NY (which includes NF) and currently live in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Locals from Toronto to Pittsburgh know that nobody visits Niagara Falls, NY and that the other side (Canada) is geared to tourism and that the natural beauty of the area is much better maintained. There’s nothing I’d like more than to see NFNY developed, that would be best for all of us, but I’m beginning to think it’s a cultural problem. Don’t forget, the larger cities in NY State tend to vote Democrat too. Look at Buffalo - it’s been run by a state control board for years and is still bankrupt because they won’t fire city workers (Buffalo has the highest ratio of city and county employees per capita than any other municipality).
In conclusion, this is a marvellously beautiful area geographically - Mr. Hudson has nothing to do with that. But, he is typical of many Western New Yorker’s who can’t seem to realize that the very politics they push have been part of the problem, not the solution.
“Based on what he wrote to me, I don’t think Mike is a Monbiot/Fisk-type but rather a provocateur in the old punk vein who throws shit out there to stir it up.”
Yeah, and nihilistic, perpetual juveniles are about as useful as tits on a boar.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2006 12 17 at 01:38 PM • permalinkDamn! I am way late to this party. Help me get up to speed:
“Journalist” reports falsehood as fact;
“Journalist” is outed by Tim;
“Journalist” is upset when facts get in the way of his alternative reality;
“Journalist” threatens Tim physically;
“Journalist” insults allies;
“Jounalist,” now on the defensive, resorts to time proven liberal talking points:
-Bush stole the election: check
-Bush lied and people died: check
-There were never WMD’s: check
-We RUSHED to war: check
-“I own a gun, and therefore you must give me my neocon bonofides”: check
-If you’re not fighting, you’re a “chickenhawk: check
-Because he “served” he has “absolute moral authority” to determine foreign policy: check
-The US is just around the corner from fascism, up to and including gulags: checkOh, and last but not certainly least: if you’re a friend of the US you must by necessity be evil as well.
Oh, and I gather that this i"newspaper” he is an “editor” of is a free rag and that Niagra Falls suck.
Is that about right, folks?
Posted by Kathy from Austin on 2006 12 17 at 03:50 PM • permalink#85- theres a picture of two of the guys pretending to be ex vietnam vets and agent orange victims at the anzmi site referred to in #82
the pic is taken from pilgers ‘secret country’ and i dont think he would have been trying to debunk their fraud do you?
i have no further info but will pop into my local library today to check it up
i did post grad journalism recently (useless i know)- one lecturer asked us to name journalists we admire
one radical feminist lefty type said pilger
the entire class (including the lecturer) burst out laughing (and a good 90% of them were various shades of left )‘ive never rated pilger’ was the lecturers comment after we had all settled down
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2006 12 17 at 06:10 PM • permalinkRemember Tim—hit the soft parts with your hand. Hit the hard bits with a utensil.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 12 17 at 06:29 PM • permalinkmareeS @82
The site you refer to should be: ANZMI
Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2006 12 17 at 09:25 PM • permalinkGrimmy: as my Grandpa said, “hit him first and make it count.”
And as for Mr. Kudson, he sounds to me like a weenie exile from a run-down industrial city (Cleveland when he left) who is gradually sliding down the toilet of Niagra Falls, NY into wherever it is the shit finally goes there. He definitely doesn’t sound like small town America. Too full of himself, too angrily defensive, to pushy.
Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2006 12 17 at 11:17 PM • permalink
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Just read through the rest of that thread after Hudson was so unfortunately unbanned. What a lying, profoundly ignorant, goal-post-moving fascist-supporting piece of crap that cockknocker is.
Hope all four of his readers get a chuckle out of his Funniest.Column.Evar. on Monday. Considering he can’t think or write for shit, I seriously doubt it.