The billboard

The Tool Shop’s “Imagine all three at once” billboard is the advertising equivalent of trolling Facebook. And where there’s a troll there’s someone taking the bait. In this case Queensland Government Minister for Women, Karen Struthers.

Struthers says the wording of the ad is an explicit sexual reference that degrades women. Explicit? Hardly. Sexual? Maybe if you imagined all three women in the ad partaking in some sort of sexy home renovation. But what about all three power tools at once? Well I guess that’s Ms Struther’s business.

The Honourable Karen Struthers, Minister for Community Services and Housing and Minister for Women

Meanwhile Melinda Tankard Reist says the Tool Shop is run by, you guessed it, tools. And it’s sexist. She’ll be commenting on the ad on Sunrise at 7:20AM tomorrow.

According to the Courier Mail, fewer than five people have so far complained to the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB). In fact, a complaint to the ASB about a radio advertisement from the Tool Shop was recently dismissed. The gist of the ad or complaint I don’t know as a case report is unavailable.

For the time being the billboard stands tall on Beaudesert Road in Brisbane’s south.

As far as the Tool Shop is concerned their job here is done. For every 5 complaints there will be 25 admirers and perhaps 50 customers.

Queensland

Dog terrorises the streets

According to Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan, Queensland needs the night ban because riders become almost invisible to motorists after sundown. “I’m not anti-fun, I’m pro-safety” she told the media.

“This is just as much about common courtesy as it is about common sense.” she said. “These riders need to look out for other people out walking or cycling on our roadways too.”

Here’s the clincher:

A spokeswoman for the minister did not have any road toll or injury statistics to hand that supported the ban.

- Brisbane Times

Many Brisbane riders took to the Goodwill Bridge last night to protest, but it looks like the changes will be in place by October with riders who break the new laws copping a $40 fine.

Law enforcement dollars well spent Queensland.

NSW

Another victim of the NSW caffeine-in-a-can trade

One might forgive the NSW Government for trying to divert attention away from certain political matters at the moment, but Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald has diverted them to a black hole of knee-jerk stupidity.

He announced today the Government will look at how it could go about taking energy drinks with high levels of caffeine off the shelves. It comes after ‘five year 7 students from Quakers Hill reportedly suffered side effects including dizziness and nausea after consuming the drinks on their way to school.’ Exactly, what drinks they consumed, the report doesn’t say.

Mr Macdonald urged parents to talk to their children about the dangers of drinking too much caffeine.

“Parental guidance on this one is important,” he said.

“But if we can get them off the market, we will.”

- SMH

Care to make it an East Coast hat-trick Victoria?

Update 10:47PM: A little short on the details, but definitely worth your time. Sir Hugh Carleton Greene, in the words of Patrick Bateman, was a laugh riot. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a DVD available.

About:

Julie Walters stars as Mary Whitehouse, the UK’s renowned taste and decency campaigner who came to prominence in the 1960s when she famously forced the resignation of the BBC’s Director-General after a row over the Beatles’ use of the world ‘knickers’ on air. It’s 1963 – a time of short skirts and flower power, feminism and gay rights. It was a revolutionary time. But as the swinging Sixties swept Britain, one horrified woman became the voice of those who had no desire to join the permissive age.

Enter the world of Mary Whitehouse. In the prosperous town of Claverley, near Wolverhampton, middle England, 53-year-old housewife and art teacher Mary Whitehouse lives in a well-ordered world where people are polite, go to church on Sundays, play cricket on the village green, and sing hymns instead of pop songs. But times are changing and Mary starts to see cracks appear in the Britain she loves. Sex, lies, smut and swearing seem to have become the subject of newspaper columns and TV programs everywhere and Mary is determined to do something about it.

Mary’s campaign starts with television, and more specifically the BBC and its Director-General, Sir Hugh Carleton Greene (Hugh Bonneville) – a man who regarded her at first with derision, then with suspicion, and finally, as a force to be reckoned with. Supported by her husband, Ernest (Alun Armstrong), her great friend Norah (Georgie Glen), and the rest of the Clean Up TV Campaign, Mary sets out to rid the BBC of the ‘tide of filth’ that has infiltrated its programming – programming that does nothing but encourage loose behaviour like smoking, drinking and open-mouthed kissing. This true story follows the efforts and surprising victories of a remarkable character in a time of huge social upheaval; a self-styled bastion of British morals who took on the upper-class male establishment – and won.

It scored a 7.2 on IMDB.

Steve Irons MP

Liberal MP Steve Irons wants a board game that he says encourages alcohol abuse banned from sale in Australia. The game in question, Pass-out, has players travel around the game board taking drinks and reciting tongue twisters. It’s been around in board game form since at least 1962.

But Irons says ‘In a society now that’s trying to reduce binge drinking, here we have companies still selling games that encourage drinking to the extent that we pass out, which is just crazy.’

According to ABC News, Irons can’t understand why a board game called ‘Pass-Out’ is sold here without any classification.

He believes the board game is a submittable publication (written or pictorial matter that may be unsuitable for a minor to see or read, likely to classified RC or is likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult) and the Australian Classification Board has the authority to classify it. Anyone know of a board game that doesn’t include video or computer game elements being classified?

He’s also challenged the Government to restrict the game from being advertised. I guess that’s the next best thing in Mr Irons’ book.

Personally, I think he might want to take a look at the real issue of minors obtaining alcohol before he tries to stop adults from participating in drinking games.

In the meantime lets do a shot every time an MP thinks banning something is a solution to a problem.

Via Melon Farmers.

EFA says an adult classification for games is still stonewalled. Geordie Guy writes:

Not only is Mr Atkinson unrelenting in his position to cement Australia’s status as the only developed nation not to have an adult categorisation for computer games, he is still displaying woeful deliberate ignorance of the key issues involved.

Conroy not only fails to answer a single question put forth by Senator Cory Bernardi (good questions, at that, for a guy who wants swearing banned), but he also appears angry at his counterparts for simply not supporting the plan. A ‘how dare you question me’ attitude.

Bernardi requested details from Conroy about how many customers an ISP would need to enlist for a live filtering trial to be credible and whether the results would be independently examined. He also asked whether the Senator had determined what ‘unwanted’ content was, and why the Government is shutting down NetAlert before it had another solution in place (Conroy says it’s a ‘lemon’).

Watch below thanks to Tech Wired Australia:

He’s making you look real good, Mr Rudd. Real good.

Of course, material directly condoning such heinous acts would never pass ACB muster — the classified magazines referred to were almost certainly run of the mill porn mags featuring models of legal age. BP and Shell’s decision to remove these mags is a result of a knee jerk company policy, not government or law enforcement intervention.

Here’s a quick run down of what happened:

• Kids Free 2 B Kids Director, Julie Gale, says magazines approved for sale encourage the sexual penetration of under-age girls and some of the video/dvd advertisements validate crimes such as incest and rape. Gale says the young women are often posed in pigtails, plaits, school uniform, pink headbands and with soft cuddly toys. Milk bars, convenience stores and petrol stations  selling magazines are targeted.
• Barnaby Joyce takes Kids Free 2 B Kids claims to Senate Estimates in October (documented here on STotC and at R-C.com). He expresses concern that pornography available in petrol stations and corner stores is encouraging paedophilia. He also has a problem with the use of ‘innocent-looking babes’ and wants to know when it will be stopped.
• November 20, BP decides to remove all ‘R-Rated materials’ from company owned and operated stores. BP says the decision was taken on the basis that they were not comfortable with the titles of some of the range, nor did they feel the material was consistent with company values.
• November 26, Shell/Coles Express follow suit removing Category 1 magazines nationwide. Julie Gale says ‘The Federal classification system and its State and Territory enforcement arms need an overhaul. They are not working.’

Those associated with Kids Free 2B Kids include Young Media Australia (support) and Dr Clive Hamilton (unspecified).

Here’s a snippet from their PR:

“This will not mean the ruin of the Internet or lead to absurd forms of censorship as some people with clearly vested interests are suggesting,” Mr Wallace said.

“Child pornography is both illegal and immensely destructive and it is entirely appropriate that access to it be blocked, along with other illegal material. The blocking of other degrading and damaging material will be optional, but offers an important safeguard for families worried about their children inadvertently coming across this material on the Net,” Mr Wallace said.

“Claims the Government will impose China-style curbing of free speech are ridiculous given Australia’s robust parliamentary democracy, something China does not have.

“Technology is improving all the time, meaning that the impact on Internet speeds is likely to be minimal, a small price to pay for protecting children and the community from too easy access to increasingly explicit material.”

Update: 2/12/08: Geordie Guy has analysed the ACL press release at his blog.

The Twelfth Fish by Graham Perrett

Here’s a ripper: Moral guardian group and soldiers in the battle against filth, Salt Shakers, are going bonkers over a new book from Labor backbencher Graham Perrett. Why? Salt Shakers believe leaders of the nation should not be encouraging reading that contains ‘extremely graphic’ and ‘sexual’ material.

Thankfully no one else agrees (okay, there’s probably a few otherwise I wouldn’t need to write this blog).

Lindsay Tanner has read The Twelfth Fish and thinks some of the expressions that have been made about the book are entirely exaggerated.

Tanner told The Australian:

“If you look around at a few books here and there, you’ll find equivalent sex scenes.”
He described Salt Shakers as one of those “rather obscure and extreme groups” that sometimes get into public debate.

“I suspect my mum would be a little bit worried about some of the content of the book, but it’s an adult novel.”

It had been a long time since books with sex scenes were banned in Australia, Mr Tanner said.

Calling Salt Shakers an obscure and extreme group is putting it nicely.

You’re probably wondering what’s so naughty about this book by now so here’s some extracts thanks to The Daily Telegrah (who of which has two warnings about the possibly offensive content you’re about to read, as if one was not enough).

“Was there any alternative when a deliciously warm hand was masturbating me while another hand cupped my balls and kisses were orbiting my groin in ever-diminishing circles.

“My heart, my universe, my soul, my everything was in Cylla’s (fellow teacher at his school) mouth and nothing else mattered.

“I started to worry about Cylla’s jaw muscles cramping … orgasm threw my sense of perspective.” (pg 155)

Another oral passage:

“She pressed on, supportive and relentless, sliding down beneath the blankets, kissing and licking and positioning herself firmly beneath my knees and methodically commencing fellatio.” (pg 167)

“The din from the party mocked me as Karen (his girlfriend) attacked my surly worm with gusto. It was as if she was professionally slighted.” (pg 168).

The Daily Telegraph also complemented their exercise in makeshift journalism with this fine image:

The graphic used alongside the News.com.au/Daily Telegraph article 'MP author's vulgar book earns parliamentary praise'

Obviously the graphic designer from Today Tonight got a new job.

And just for a quick reminder of how messed up Salt Shakers are — remember that channel 9 series The Block where four couples renovated some houses? Salt Shakers didn’t like the fact one couple was homosexual:

The Block, a ‘reality’ program on Channel 9, is a renovation ‘challenge’ in a block of Bondi flats has four ‘couples’ competing to renovate a flat. Three couples are heterosexual (only two are married) the other ‘couple’ are two homosexual men who openly exhibit their ‘sexuality’. They also threaten to renovate in their underwear!

This program is on Channel 9 at 6.30pm on SUNDAY evenings – yes, that’s right, just when our children are watching! Please contact Channel 9 – This is TV social engineering GONE MAD and it is BAD NEWS for our nation if this becomes an accepted norm for Sunday night TV!

It will set a precedent if YOU don’t air YOUR concern…

Comical.

New levels of something alright, but it sure ain't leadership.

Our PM is a little confused with what the party plan is. He wants turbocharged education and high speed broadband for our kids. Here’s what he’s been running around saying today:

“Mr Murdoch is right, a 21st century economy demands a 21st century education system,” he [Rudd] said.

“An education revolution is our response, investing in the quantity of money we put into the education system, the quality of that investment.
“That’s what Australia needs for the future, together with a high speed broadband revolution which will turbocharge education in this country into the 21st century.“

Amazing eh. Absolutely amazing. The only place Rudd and Conroy are turbocharging education and broadband to is the dark ages.