quote:

Misogynist rants from Young Libs

Young Liberals at one of the country's most elite universities have posted racist, crude and misogynist comments on social media, describing women as ''sluts'', Muslims as ''degenerates'' and saying all feminists are ugly.

Only days after two Liberal candidates were forced to quit ahead of November's state election over a series of derogatory posts on Facebook and Twitter, the party has been rocked again by offensive behaviour in its ranks.

In a series of screenshots of Facebook messages leaked to Fairfax Media, the Melbourne University Liberal Club members attack feminist and alumni Germaine Greer, take aim at homosexuality, and repeatedly demean women.

Club treasurer Stefan Eracleous describes Ms Greer as a ''lying f---ing c-m guzzling slut … and a union member''.

''She doesn't believe in God. No kids not married … what do you [e]xpect from a melb uni educated former socialist c---,'' he wrote.

He also refers to London as ''the gay capital of the world'' and appears to hit out at Muslims, telling a friend: ''Just be careful of those mussrats. A lot of them are [a] bunch of Third World degenerate c---s.''

The club's vice-president, Charlie Cartney, said in a Facebook message in January that a venue was ''definitely worth a visit'' because it had a Mexican restaurant and an upstairs bar with ''lots of sluts'', saying in another post: ''Get some sluts for me.''

Other members of the group referred to former prime minister Julia Gillard as a ''twat'' and said ''Tara Moss should only be on TV if she is in a bikini''.

The posts are another embarrassing blow for the Liberals - surfacing days after party chiefs warned MPs and candidates to act appropriately on social media - and have fuelled Labor's claims of a broader cultural problem within Liberal ranks.

The Young Liberals and university Liberal clubs often are seen as a starting point for people interested in politics, with Melbourne University alumni including state treasurer Michael O'Brien, federal senator Scott Ryan and federal Higgins MP Kelly O'Dwyer.

The Melbourne University Liberal Club's Facebook page also shows members campaigning for the state election with candidates and MPs, including Attorney-General Robert Clark and backbenchers Clem Newton-Brown and Neil Angus.

Club president Michael Sabljak said he was not aware of the comments until The Sunday Age contacted him because they were not on an official Melbourne University Liberal forum, but denied the club had a homophobic, sexist or misogynistic culture.

Mr Eracleous refused to provide any comment despite being contacted by The Sunday Age a number of times. Mr Cartney said he was not prepared to provide a response without evidence. Despite being given the relevant material, he still had not commented.

The revelations follow the resignation of two Liberal candidates for the state election in recent days over offensive social media posts. Bendigo West candidate Jack Lyons quit last week after it was revealed he wrote dozens of offensive Facebook posts, including racist comments about people from China and Africa.

Former Young Liberals president Aaron Lane, who had been endorsed as the party's candidate for Western Region in the upper house, resigned the previous week after he was exposed for tweeting a barrage of crude comments which included the derogatory term ''human being''.

Dr Lauren Rosewarne, a senior lecturer at Melbourne University's school of social and political sciences, said it was impossible for the Liberal Party to control its message in the era of social media.

''Social media is a very, very tricky game for people who haven't been trained in media and communications,'' Dr Rosewarne said.

She said nothing was private on social media and if candidates or clubs aligned with the party went ''off message or rogue'', the party was responsible for reining them in.

''It's really damaging to the political party brand.''

State director Damien Mantach declined to comment.

Vladimir Poutine posted:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/misogynist-rants-from-young-libs-20140809-3dfhw.html

quote:

Dr Lauren Rosewarne, a senior lecturer at Melbourne University's school of social and political sciences, said it was impossible for the Liberal Party to control its message in the era of social media.

Vladimir Poutine posted:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/misogynist-rants-from-young-libs-20140809-3dfhw.html

Amethyst posted:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-06/coles-woolworths-preparing-to-enter-home-loans-market/5653288


Can't wait for the day the ALP and LNP are replaced by the Coles and Woolworths parties.

quote:

"Customers who drink lots of milk and eat lots of red meat are very, very, very good car insurance risks versus those who eat lots of pasta and rice, fill up their petrol at night and drink spirits," she said.

"What that means is we're able to tailor an insurance offer that targets those really good insurance risk customers and give them a good deal ... and it helps to avoid the bad insurance risks."

IronicBeetCriminal posted:

From that :


Woah.

Tirade posted:

Thanks for pointing that out, I kinda skimmed over it. I'm absolutely fascinated / horrified by what you can do with large data sets. It's got similar ramifications for electioneering. Our only saving grace is that it will be the left that capitalizes on it before the right.

quote:

The couple who established one of Perth's best-known Indian restaurant chains have been accused of running a visa scam where fellow Indians have allegedly been charged up to $50,000 each to jump the migration queue.

The Immigration Department has confirmed it is investigating Maya Masala founders Bhupinder Singh Grewal and his wife Parveen Kaur Grewal over claims they have been selling access to 457 visas and jobs in their restaurants.

Mr and Mrs Grewal, who are going through a divorce, have denied the allegations.

Mr Grewal called them "total rubbish" yesterday.

_The Weekend West _has spoken to a licensed migration agent who claims he worked for the Grewals on about 10 visa applications between 2012 and last year before turning whistle- blower when he discovered what he called "significant irregularities".

Three Indian nationals who claim they agreed to pay the Grewals after answering advertisements for chefs have also spoken out, alleging that they were left broke and facing deportation after their visa applications fell through.

In one case, a 30-year-old man attempted to take his own life after discovering he had lost what was his elderly parents' retirement savings.

Sukhmeet Singh claims he first met the Grewals in late 2011 when he applied for a job as curry chef at Maya Masala in Northbridge.

In a statement he made to police, he claims he was told by the Grewals that they could sponsor him on a 457 work visa if he agreed to pay them $50,000 up-front. Mr Singh claims that he waited several months to receive his visa but was told repeatedly by Parveen Grewal that it was still being processed.

When he finally contacted the Immigration Department for an update, he was told the application had been rejected and he was an illegal immigrant.

The department says it is an offence under the Migration Act to charge an employee any costs associated with their employment.

But it refused to discuss the investigation into the Grewals, saying only that it was an "active matter".

Mr Grewal, who is in Vietnam on business, has accused those making the allegations against him of lying.

"We have not committed any offence, nor have we ever asked anyone to pay us $50,000," he said.

Mrs Grewal also denied having ever accepted payments for visas.

Through her lawyer, she provided documents to _The Weekend West _showing the department had given her company - Nirmal Nominees - a clean bill of health in December.

Former Ethnic Communities Council head Suresh Rajan said he believed visa scams were rife in WA.

He said he had been warning the Government for years that a crackdown was needed but little appeared to have been done.

He said he had heard of cases where workers had been granted 457 visas but had never worked a day for the employer who sponsored them.

The workers themselves had to cover the cost of their own income tax and superannuation payments to keep up the appearance that they had legitimate jobs.

"I have been raising concerns about this issue for seven years now and the department has not seemed to have acted," Mr Rajan said.

Internal Immigration Department papers leaked to the media this week revealed efforts to stamp out visa fraud were minimal, particularly in WA.

_The Weekend West _is also aware of two unrelated investigations being held by WA Police into similar visa-related scams.

Tirade posted:

Thanks for pointing that out, I kinda skimmed over it. I'm absolutely fascinated / horrified by what you can do with large data sets. It's got similar ramifications for electioneering. Our only saving grace is that it will be the left that capitalizes on it before the right.

Tirade posted:

Thanks for pointing that out, I kinda skimmed over it. I'm absolutely fascinated / horrified by what you can do with large data sets. It's got similar ramifications for electioneering. Our only saving grace is that it will be the left that capitalizes on it before the right.

IronicBeetCriminal posted:

"Customers who drink lots of milk and eat lots of red meat are very, very, very good car insurance risks versus those who eat lots of pasta and rice, fill up their petrol at night and drink spirits," she said.

"What that means is we're able to tailor an insurance offer that targets those really good insurance risk customers and give them a good deal ... and it helps to avoid the bad insurance risks."

Haters Objector posted:

Why do you think this will be the case?

You Am I posted:

From the Sunday Canberra Times

Gough Suppressant posted:

I've been meaning to ask this for ages, What the gently caress is a NTATA

Vladimir Poutine posted:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/misogynist-rants-from-young-libs-20140809-3dfhw.html

Gough Suppressant posted:

I've been meaning to ask this for ages, What the gently caress is a NTATA

Gough Suppressant posted:

I've been meaning to ask this for ages, What the gently caress is a NTATA

IronicBeetCriminal posted:

Cartoon is gonna be madder.

Noted Torture Apologist Tony Abbott posted:

Obviously the Australian Government deplores any use of torture. We deplore that, wherever it might take place, we deplore that. But we accept that sometimes in difficult circumstances, difficult things happen.

quote:

'Grow a set': PUP opposes uni reforms

Date
August 10, 2014

38 reading now


Matthew Knott
Communications and education correspondent



Senate kingmaker Clive Palmer has stated categorically that his party will not vote for the deregulation of university fees when the Abbott government presents legislation to the Senate. Mr Palmer's stance was backed by Palmer United Party senator Jacqui Lambie, who called on the Nationals to ''grow a set'' and oppose fee deregulation.

When asked whether his party was open to supporting fee deregulation, Mr Palmer replied: ''No.'' PUP policy is that university education should be free.

Senator Lambie said fee deregulation ''will not happen on PUP's watch … If the Nationals grew a set, they could also say no to the Liberals on key issues, like university deregulation, which, of course, will see campuses close in regional country areas and bush families greatly disadvantaged.''

The government will need the support of at least two senators from the PUP/Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party alliance to pass its higher education package. It plans to introduce a bill this month to deregulate university fees, reduce course funding by an average of 20 per cent, increase the interest on student debts and extend government support to students at TAFEs, private colleges and sub-bachelor degree programs.

Last week, Education Minister Christopher Pyne said he took heart from the fact that Mr Palmer had not said he would block the government's reforms.

''I don't think [Mr Palmer] ever said he was going to vote against our higher education reforms,'' Mr Pyne told the ABC. ''If you haven't said no, then we're a long way from ending the siren, as they say.''

Mr Pyne later said he believed the Coalition and PUP would work closely together ''to bring about the necessary reform for universities and students that is needed''.

Mr Pyne, who indicated he may give ground on a plan to peg student debts to the government bond rate, said he had been in ''constant communication'' with Mr Palmer.

HECS architect Bruce Chapman predicted fees could double - or even triple - at prestigious universities under a deregulated system.

Mr Palmer's comments will concern university vice-chancellors, whose worst fear is a blocking of fee deregulation but support for a 20 per cent cut in course funding.

Universities Australia and the Regional Universities Network support fee deregulation, saying it is the only policy that will make universities sustainable in the context of declining government funding.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/grow-a-set-pup-opposes-uni-reforms-20140809-3dfdu.html#ixzz39xwb0LQg

quote:

Club treasurer Stefan Eracleous describes Ms Greer as a ''lying f---ing c-m guzzling slut … and a union member''.

Vladimir Poutine posted:

''Social media is a very, very tricky game for people who haven't been trained in media and communications,'' Dr Rosewarne said.

drunkill posted:

abbottlies.com.au

Cartoon posted:

Thank gently caress Miranda Devine has us covered!

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2014/08/sra_20140810_0930.mp3 (At 3:46)

Conflates the need for armed guards on Jewish student buses in Sydney with returning Jihadists

"IT IS now a fact of life in Sydney that armed guards have to escort Jewish children to school. Much as we would wish it otherwise, the war drums of ancient Middle East conflicts have already come to Australia. And none is so lethal as the threat of jihadists radicalised by the barbaric slaughter in Iraq and Syria. Why, then, would any sane, loyal Australian oppose the government’s proposed modest modifications to anti-terrorism laws."

Small Keating posted:

That is either the most brain-damaged DNS redirect made by a political entity I have ever seen, or the very model of a Good Domain Snype.

Milky Moor posted:

Wait, weren't the people who assaulted the kids on that bus white? Why the gently caress is she acting like it's some extension of the Middle East stuff?

Cartoon posted:

Thank gently caress Miranda Devine has us covered!

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2014/08/sra_20140810_0930.mp3 (At 3:46)

Conflates the need for armed guards on Jewish student buses in Sydney with returning Jihadists

"IT IS now a fact of life in Sydney that armed guards have to escort Jewish children to school. Much as we would wish it otherwise, the war drums of ancient Middle East conflicts have already come to Australia. And none is so lethal as the threat of jihadists radicalised by the barbaric slaughter in Iraq and Syria. Why, then, would any sane, loyal Australian oppose the government’s proposed modest modifications to anti-terrorism laws."

Conclusion

Miranda Devine has as solid a grasp on the reality of the situation as the majority of Australia. Not a single clue. None. Zero. Zip. Nadda.

Small Keating posted:

That is either the most brain-damaged DNS redirect made by a political entity I have ever seen, or the very model of a Good Domain Snype.

hyperbowl posted:

The Jewish school near my parents' house has had armed guards at the gate since at least the 90s. It wasn't because of jihadists then and it isn't because of jihadists now.

Gough Suppressant posted:

Haters Objector posted:

Why do you think this will be the case?