10 May 2007

Message to Canberra Police: I Hear You! (wink wink)

| johnboy
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Recently the constabulary have been very active in these parts. They (or their supporters) have suggested that anyone who’s ever been to Gorman House is a criminal with an opinion undeserving of consideration, that asking questions of policing is “anti-police”, that a care for civil liberties indicates a desire to shield alleged pedophiles from the full weight of the law.

I’ll admit I was surprised by these ignorant, thuggish, and prejudiced views coming from a sector we expect so much from.

But then I had a revelation!

Our intelligent and perspicacious constabulary could never expect such crude and intimidatory tactics to have any effect. Therefore these noxious postings must be for another reason. I can only assume that they too are as concerned as I am, and wish to goad this website into further examination of the issues.

It’s OK boys. I get your message. I understand how deeply concerned you must have been to ensure that RiotACT doesn’t let up on these important issues.

I won’t let you down!

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Yeah, it’s a beauty isn’t it? I’d like to claim it as my own but I think the derivation is US vernacular.

arseclown – nice

And if you’d care to visit my blog JB, the poem currently up was written by one of our admins. I don’t think it needs much explanation. In the thread that announced his death, the outpouring of grief went on for pages. His folks came on line and thanked us for our support and told us how much it meant to them. One of our members attended the funeral. Our membership probably only numbered about 3000 at the time but we raised around $1500, which was used to send flowers to the funeral, a gift to his parents, and donated the remainder (over $750US) to one of Jack’s favorite breast cancer charities. It wasn’t the first child his parents had lost you see.

The reason he engendered that sort of response was because he acted in the best interests of our community not himself. And good admins are hard to find.

I wonder if your sudden demise would inspire the same sort of heartfelt response and loyalty. Somehow, I think not. You might want to spend some time asking yourself why.

What’s more, only you could be a big enough arseclown to turn a discussion in which I was defending you, when farq and another referred back to my stuff, I continued on with the original topic but replied to them in the process, and then you turned around and proved what a total arseclown you indeed are by attacking me.

Logical debate ain’t your strong suit is it JB?

And your forum software’s a clunky piece of shit. I’ll leave you to fix it. (tho’ I’ll admit the design is reasonably tasteful)

Look JB I didn’t start the discussion about my issues. I simply responded to comments made to me. If you can’t manage to make your dislike for me a little less obvious by directing your comments not only to me but also to the person who actually brought the topic up then, as I suggested to you before, I think you need to grow up.

You definitely need to do so before you go poncing about the place pretending to be some sort of ex-journo when in fact the best you’ve been able to manage is working for one of those news aggregation services that all the real/b> journos in the press gallery submit their stories to for distribution and syndication. You sure need to grow something before you will ever succeed at running a political blog that has any real influence let alone credibility. I’d suggest a little humility, the ability to swallow your pride, and admitting to your mistakes should also be high on your list of “Things JB Needs To Do To Be Taken Seriously”.

Look JB I didn’t start the discussion about my issues. I simply responded to comments made to me. If you can’t manage to make your dislike for me a little less obvious by directing your comments not only to me but also to the person who actually brought the topic up then, as I suggested to you before, I think you need to grow up.

You definitely need to do so before you go poncing about the place pretending to be some sort of ex-journo when in fact the best you’ve been able to manage is working for one of those news aggregation services that all the real/b> journos in the press gallery submit their stories to for distribution and syndication. You sure need to grow something before you will ever succeed at running a political blog that has any real influence let alone credibility. I’d suggest a little humility, and the ability to swallow your pride, and admitting to your mistakes should also be high on your list of “Things JB Needs To Do To Be Taken Seriously”.

Look JB I didn’t start the discussion about my issues. I simply responded to comments made to me. If you can’t manage to make your dislike for me a little less obvious by directing your comments not only to me but also to the person who actually brought the topic up then, as I suggested to you before, I think you need to grow up.

You definitely need to do so before you go poncing about the place pretending to be some sort of ex-journo when in fact the best you’ve been able to manage is working for one of those news aggregation services that all the real/b> journos in the press gallery submit their stories to for distribution and syndication. You sure need to grow something before you will ever succeed at running a political blog that has any real influence let alone credibility. I’d suggest a little humility, and the ability to swallow your pride, and admitting to your mistakes should also be high on your list of “Things JB Needs To Do To Be Taken Seriously”.

I’m getting stressed reading this stuff.

Time for a nice quiet walk.

You’re really not helping here Chester.

Can I suggest discussions of your issues are best conducted on your blog?

K thx Bye

Who cares what the medical history says, it can’t be used against you. If anything it can be brought up as mitigating circumstances by you and you only.

Actually farq it can be used against you.

My favourite is: “You were sick, that’s why you were upset and that you believe you were hard done by”.

However, in the real world, it was and still is “You were harassed etc and then you became sick as a consequence of another person’s actions”.

Medical history can be used in order for another group to smear a person’s personal and professional life. Funnily enough it still goes on even with Whistler Blowers and HREOC.

Sorry for continuing the OT rant 🙂

BTW farq, the journey is the reward.

Sometimes you must travel over rocky terrain. But that doesn’t mean you won’t find many beautiful gems along the way even in the most hostile of environments.

Remembering to keep looking for them amidst the desolate landscape is part of the trick to it all. 🙂 I assure you I have already found many in the course of my recent travels. To quote the old Australian band “Tall Tales and True” whose excellent album unfortunately never made it off vinyl (don’t get me started on record labels and copyright law!):

I know that fragile trust can be torn to pieces by a world ever-changing
But you know what they say, no pain, no gain…..

farq thanks for what I’m sure is well meant advice. However…….

Firstly, I have a great doctor who I’ve been with for two decades who is extremely supportive and on my side to the point that on Thursday they agreed they’d write a letter of saying ill-informed decisions by CIT staff and courts without consultation with my doctor isn’t a good thing for me or anybody’s health (that’s on top of the letter saying my doctor doesn’t believe I am or have ever suffered any mental illness).

Secondly, you have to weigh the damage already done to you in a situation like this, against the damage that may result from giving up, keeping in mind that is precisely the aim of the other side’s tactics. I have. It’s a close contest. But I’ve decided, at least for the time being, going on is the lesser of two evils.

Finally, 15 years is the worst case scenario. It could be a lot less and I can opt out anytime. The stress on the loved ones issues has also been dealt with but I don’t discuss such personal family matters on the internet. Suffice to say, I have an able and strong group of supporters.

But you are absolutely right that dealing with these sort of toxic people and toxic situations is cancer-causing shit.

And one must remain ever vigilant and conscious of this fact.

High stress levels cause premature death!

I feel that leaving things like this unresolved within yourself, only reduces your quality of life and shorten it.

What about your loved ones? What about the stress it puts on them seeing you deal with all this shit for years on end!. Have they suggested a similar idea of getting a debriefing?

See a GP you can trust. They know all the people qualified to do debriefings and can refer you to one who you can be sure is not under the heel of the powers that be.

Seeking help with perspective is not a weakness, If anything it’s just shows how high performance your head is 🙂

Who cares what the medical history says, it can’t be used against you. If anything it can be brought up as mitigating circumstances by you and you only.

The best way to beat them is to live the best life possible (but you already know that!).

If you keep up the fight, then you’ll might end up locked up or sectioned (stress can do strange things to a person) for no reason other than you could not let it go (it’s fukced I know!).

My friend who had somewhat similar problem only found his answer once it was put in perspective by a third party he could trust was only in contact with him. A debriefing is exactly what he needed. Like people who experience/witness horrible accidents sometimes need to talk about it before they can process it properly. Again I think the smarter you are, the harder it is to sometimes integrate and accept really negative things that happen in your life (because you look for a reason, try to second guess it all!)

Stupid people have it easy, they are able to accept things more on the face value, and they can’t/don’t look at problems as hard as smart people do.

The only reason I say this is I’ve followed your saga as posted on this site and feel I’d be unable to cope with the pressure and stress. Most of the readers feel for you, last time you disappeared from the site I worried where life was leading you. Its none of my business, but fuck it! I’ve seen what this sort of thing can do to a person!

Besides it’s not all bad. Elsewhere, where it’s been discussed at far greater length, my video exploits were greeted with the following words of approval from one of our Benevolent Overlords:

Sweet, stick it to the man!

Honestly, you make me proud.

Do I think I could do with some “debriefing” about the whole thing?
Absolutely.
Is it a good idea while various agencies and courts are attempting to rewrite my medical history?
No.
Am I fully conscious of this dilemma to the point that I’ve thought about it at length, realized the inherent problems in continuing the fight, figured out my own strategies for dealing with the stress, and are already employing them? Such as simply switching off from it completely, sometimes for weeks on end?
Of course. Otherwise I’d go nuts. 😀

Exactly fighting for the next 15 years or more as you say. Why don’t you do yourself and family a favor and give it a rest and just get on and enjoy life.

CC: You must get pretty stressed about the whole deal. Have you sought out some support from health professionals? They are pretty good at putting things in perspective. Handy to hear their opinions of you as a third person, especially when others call you crazy (who can be sure if they are sane or not, at least I’m not sure if I’m sane!).

I have a friend who had similar problems to you. He won in the end, but only after he got it all in perspective.

No offense CC. You are obviously a very intelligent person. Too smart to waste your life caught up in this saga. My theory is that the smarter you are, the more you can benefit from help (like a car, high power engines need tune-ups more often, benefit the most from maintenance!)

Hang in there CC! You can do it!

And the last reply was to el not TAD.

Which brings me to a genuine gripe. Why won’t you allow editing of posts? At least for the first 24 hours after posting.

Sorry TAD I just realized you were referring to my closing comment. My point is, limiting swearing is censorship and the site owner’s right. My forums have it too although a considerably lower standard. We’ll also (as is traditional on many forums) immediately lock a thread if anybody mentions the guy whose name starts with AH and who led Germany in WW2. Because it’s just asking for trouble.

The ad hominens in the other thread would have been pounced on immediately by mods or admins, and several of the posters would probably be on 3 day bans to give them time to develop some proper motivation. Call it censorship if you like. It’s not done randomly. It’s not based on personal likes or dislikes. It’s done according to carefully thought out (and argued about ad nauseum!) rules.

So we don’t allow ad hominens because they contribute zip to the discussion, they are offensive to the subject, and they damage the community as a whole.

Ah, long posts that are sometimes hard to follow.

We missed you CC.

Oh don’t worry, Special G. It’s a personal failing I freely admit to and one I continue to try to overcome. On my home forums, my saga has rambled over 5 or 6 threads and included diversions into the US Declaration of Independence and the entire retelling of the story using only emoticons (although that was somebody’s else’s handiwork). Considers yourselves lucky!

Anyway, I blame farq. He asked the OT question. 😉

AFAICT There’s very minimal censorship here Chester (aside from unnecessary swearing)

Everyone owns their own comments, ‘anonymous’ as they may think they are.

You know how people say think before you speak? Apply the same principle to your keyboard skills.

Writing ability: 9/10 (you lose a mark for the missing period at the end of the first sentence.)
Comprehension: 0/10 (Report to Mr Barr’s Office on Monday at 9 am sharp!

AFAICT There’s very minimal censorship here Chester (aside from unnecessary swearing)

Everyone owns their own comments, ‘anonymous’ as they may think they are.

Ah, long posts that are sometimes hard to follow.

We missed you CC.

Well if that’s the case TAD, he should also be well aware that there is only one effective way to deal with trolls.

Ignore them.

Look matey, I come from a couple of forums that regard “Cease and desist ” letters from the law firms that represent a US company big enough to swallow the ACT government whole, as one of our greatest achievements.

The comment wasn’t directed at JB but at the dildos who apparently don’t get that, just like talking by telephone, mobile, letter, email, or bloody smoke signals, rules must apply or it will inevitably lead to an inane, pointless stream of unrelated, drivvle and invective.

Jesus H. Christ, TAD read before you hit the keyboard. I’m attacking the way JB’s detractors are trying to refute his argument. Not the argument he’s putting forth. In this case, I happen to agree on the whole. In previous and future cases I may not.

God! It’s time to visit the sanity of home.

PS There is one thing both this and my home forums agree on. Forums are not bound by principles of free speech, at least when it comes to participation. When you enter a forum it’s like being invited into somebody’s living room (the site owners/administrators). Being censored or banned may piss you off but it is the legal right of the site owner.

Chester

I think JB is already familiar with these methods.

TAD

farq:
My intention is not to derail the thread. But because your screen name is the same as the call of the Australian Raven (not to be mistaken for crows), I’ll say briefly that my family are incensed, especially as I come from a family of high academic achievers who have always encouraged their kids to love learning for its own sake. Initially, they wanted to throw all their considerable financial resources at the problem, particularly after the unusual circumstances of my arrest that remain unexplained. (I still don’t have all the documents, including the ones I should have been allowed to see in court!)

Unfortunately, after approaching half the law firms in town, one of them had the decency to at least admit that they doubt I’ll find anyone to represent me in Canberra because “it’s too political and everybody cares about their careers too much”. Not unreasonably, my family has simply thrown up its arms in utter disgust. My response is more along the lines of “oh well, can’t study media. ay as well become a professional political ratbag.” The pays lousy but somebody’s got to do it. 😉

Besides, I figure the DPP trying to cop a look at my Federal Court appeal papers (and he knows what I’m capable of), I must be onto something (I told him to get lost).

But it’s caused a lot of distress to my elderly mother who has always believed “they’re all corrupt”. Ironically, we argued about this with me defending the courts. Not anymore. Now I’ve admitted to her, she was right and I was wrong (at least within the ACT legal system). Not that that’s going to stop me. I’m in it for the long haul (by “long haul” I know the fight may take me up to 15 years).

My point is this. We have a bunch of morons running the town, we have a bunch of morons for an opposition and we have public agencies (not just the AFP) who have a complete disregard for accountability and the transparency of their actions. That is not the way democracies are meant to work.

JB or any similar candidate would almost certainly lose. But it will throw a spanner in the works and force both government and opposition to fight a war on two fronts. And as any military strategist will tell you, that is a situation that is always problematic.

If the mainstream media can’t do its job properly (as they failed to do so abysmally in the last US election), it’s time to follow the lead pioneered by the Dailykos and all the other sites that upset the apple cart at the US election and given the bastards that lesson in internet democracy they so richly deserve.

http://www.dailykos.com/

It’s not so much about winning as consciousness-raising and reminding the public they have every right to expect better than people with vested interests telling them “It’s OK. You can trust us”.

Some of you are happy to swallow this whole. But I operate on the basis of facts. So my response is “Fine. Maybe you are trustworthy. So prove it.” If they’ve got nothing to hide, what exactly is the problem.

As for the the thief is guilty and JB is trying to blame the police, let’s have another lesson in logical argument (and this one’s come up before).

One can set up a strawman in the following ways:

From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman

1. Present a misrepresentation of the opponent’s position, refute it, and pretend that the opponent’s actual position has been refuted.
2. Quote an opponent’s words out of context — i.e., choose quotations that are not representative of the opponent’s actual intentions (see contextomy).
3. Present someone who defends a position poorly as the defender, refute that person’s arguments, and pretend that every upholder of that position, and thus the position itself, has been defeated.
4. Invent a fictitious persona with actions or beliefs that are criticized, and pretend that the person represents a group of whom the speaker is critical.
5. Oversimplify a person’s argument into a simple analogy, which can then be attacked.

I think we could find examples of all those tactics in this and every other thread regarding the Clea Rose tragedy. #1 is the main one most of you are using to attack JB.

CC: my first post should have been: “I have read most of your…”

I’d vote for JB, we could use another independand. It’s not a crazy idea CC.

Although, I don’t think enough of Canberras voters would a agree with me and you on this.

If he was an ex rugby player, well then…..

Only 21 posts. Did CC’s post kill this thread?

JB: Way to obvious a bait (I’ll post more I promise, I seem to piss them off). I don’t underestimate your reasons for posting the story (I can’t guess why), but 21 posts? Has it worked?

I agree that Dudewhatever and co are medieval in their views, but that’s why I read the site. It’s like 21st century talk-back radio (Think of the people that call those shows? Now just subtract 20-40 years from the demographics age).

CC: Read most the stuff you have posted about your saga. Have you talked to your family about any of these problems? What do they say?

is chester….crazychester??

You betcha babe. And proud of it. Of course, one of the distinct advantages of being over 40, is that you stop giving a flying f#@k what most people think of you.

But then this is the only site my screen name has ever been connected to anything other than Robbie Robertson’s “The Weight”. It is, after all, #41 in Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Though shalt know thy popular music history before going off halfcocked I’d suggest. Lest one make assumptions based on ignorance, that succeed only in making an ass out u and me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weight

Slinky the Shocker4:32 pm 11 May 07

KandyA! You so wouldn’t want my liver…

is chester….crazychester??

Oh and JB, aside from the stop and count to ten rule, as I’ve suggested to nyssa, when the turkeys get me down, I like to remind myself of John Gabriel’s Greater Internet F#@kwad Theory (And a warning the link contains rude words and is probably NSFW):
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19

Don’t suppose you’d consider running for the next ACT election JB? I know you don’t think I’m as crazy as you once did (oh it’s OK you don’t need to admit it). Yes, there would be a lot of obstacles and winning would be next to impossible (altho’ given some previous results of ACT elections anything could happen).

I’d be surprised if this site isn’t being infiltrated by government/AFP trolls. I now from my own google stats that they are keeping tabs on me. Kinda obvious when your traffic is negligible but suddenly jumps in the space of two hours just after I point Stanhope et al to it (late on a Saturday afternoon no less, so at least they’re working overtime). I know I’m a good enough speech writer that I got a spontaneous standing ovation from 100 students and teachers at Newcastle Uni years ago.

Much more lee way if you’re running as a candidate. But at the rate you’re going, it sounds like you’re dangerously at risk of, like me, to quote the DPP “treading on the wrong toes.” Trust me, you don’t want to go there. Sometimes it’s better to put one’s differences aside for the greater good.

I’d love to see how the general public responded to a party without hidden agendas or a culture of nepotism that included an agenda that appealed to people’s hearts and minds and not just their hip pockets. I have this theory that the populace in general is crying out for integrity in it’s political institutions and desperately seeking inspirational leaders. Not just here but across the globe. I’d love to see what they do if one actual appeared.

You get more right to speak your mind without interference and, ultimately, even in the face of defeat, you’d have to admit it would be an absolute hoot. Why not play them directly at their own game?

Anyway, just a thought. I’ll leave it with ya. And because I like to live dangerously, let’s post that link to my blog and picasa album and see if the local constabulary come a-visiting again.

ccraven.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/margie.cc/AustralianRaven2

My car was broken into at the Rex carpark. They took the report, that’s all.
Never heard from them again.

so, andy, what do you expect – a call each fortnight on a wednesday to say, ‘no nothing yet, but we’ll keep in touch, toodles…’??

really, i sometimes wonder if some people really stop to think about what policing must be like, as a real job. that said, it is frustrating when you do your own police work – like you knew where the little shit with the knife lives – and the real coppers can get no satisfaction. still, little shits got rights, too, and there’s the rub, innit.

again, a policy of organ-harvesting does present as a sensible, beneficial solution to these concerns –
1. unreconstructed bigots harassing JB’s webviews…= organ-harvensting kidney each
2. introduced purchaser/provider model and its dysfunctional?= eyeball harvested!
3.Robbed, beat-up, ignored, poor Slinky? =kidney, liver, eyeball..?hip? thankyouverymuch!

about 7 yrs ago I had the experience of reporting a burglary, and found stolen item months after at cashies, when reported was told that I would be able to buy it back – Police werent even interested in getting name of seller. (ok wasnt actually very good proof of it being same item – good enough for me to conduct organ harvesting tho I think!)

Perhaps organ harvesting can provide greater deterrent than not investigating incidents. Still need someone to have to catch them and prove it- I dunno? the fire brigade? SES? people who goto Goromon House?

I wasn’t intending to put the boot in, just retell some instances that have occured to me personally.

ban ritalin, obviously the adhd kiddies are making life a little too hard for our colleagues in the AFP. That being said, and without sounding like a supporter of the Police, if its a job you cant do for various reasons hows about you dont slip the boot in… unless they are a f**kwit.

Several instances…
Once, in 2001, my friends tyre was slashed in my parents front yard. We chased the little 14 yo shit.
He brandished his knife at us, and we called the cops, chasin him up and down the road.
Cops attended, sirens and all.
Nothing much seemed to happen after that, we never heard much more. He disappeared into a backyard, and it’s strongly suspected by us he lived there, but the police got no joy from the house.

My car was stolen from out the front of our apartment in Belconnen. My fault, true, it was unlocked, but it was a bomb.
Could not reach the police by phone, so drove up in my flatmate’s car to report it
“oh, someone probably took it to get home last night”
Admittedly, they did ring me at 11:15 to say they’d found it.. where it had been dumped.. in the middle of an intersection, with no petrol.
At least I got the car back.

My car was broken into at the Rex carpark. They took the report, that’s all.
Never heard from them again.

Thank god for JB.

I was beginning to be concerned that there weren’t enough single tracked rant blogs on the web.

Would any one know what was going on around William Slim Drive last night? Umnmarked Police cars, plain clothes cops (I think) all actively doing something….not sitting around reading Riotact.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt9:12 am 11 May 07

In response to point (1) above, I have no doubt the constabulary would chase you, because you’d be an easy arrest. (Makes the numbers look better, you see)

slinky,
my dealings with the cops where the same.
They couldn’t give a shit. I got the impression that they wouldn’t give a shit until I was dead or near dead lying in a hospital somewhere.
Whether or not they can do something is not the point, they could at least pretend to give a shit.

I have often wanted to take justice into my own hands, however I haven’t for two reason:
1. I am sure as a sick twist of fate the AFP would then decide to actually do their jobs
2.I am just way too chicken shit

ant,

If thats the case, why don’t you get in there and show them how it’s done?? And please, come up with something better than “I’m too smart” or “I would lower myself to that”…

Canberra AFP are useless as police. I am not quite sure what they are there for. Best thing is to acquire one’s own gun, off the map.

Slinky the Shocker9:59 pm 10 May 07

Oh, and by the way, before Dude and his mates wake up at 10 a.m. and go on the predictable attack: I am NOT anti-cop whatsoever. I grew up in a country town where coppers seemed to enjoy their job and therefore approached it with more dedication, and compassion for all sides. I even got busted twice for “mischief” as a little shit and found that if cops handle these things well, it can create respect by all sides… Just never experienced this in Canberra.

Slinky the Shocker9:33 pm 10 May 07

I had shut up in the debate so far, however after the comments by Dude @ss and others I’ve had enough. As a lot of you might remember, the junkie scene was pretty rife in Canberra a few years ago. During this time, 4 crimes were committed against me or my property without the police giving a shit! I can understand that car break-ins are too many to count, but at least the police should make the impression of caring. The response after the 1st break-in was basically: “Ah, what the hell are you calling me if only your radio was nicked”. Our house got burgled and they actually bothered to come around, but basically told us that we should look for the stolen goods ourselves at cash converters.
The last incident (after another car break-in) was me getting my face smashed by a junkie on a Sunday arvo in Garema Place. Nothing broken, but the massive concussion led to mild seizures that took a couple of years to stop re-occurring and that fucked me up quite badly for a while. I reported it from the hospital and they were going to send someone around my joint to take a statement. This was called off (“too busy” – which is fair enough), so I hopped over to the Belco police beat a day or two later and unfortunately made the mistake that I came in at around lunch. Clearly, the fat and lazy dude had absolutely no interest in my story (maybe he thought I look like I go to Gorman House) and took my name, address and told me “there’s basically no chance finding the bloke” although I gave a detailed description of a VERY distinctive looking guy who I am sure is known to every Civic cop.
My only comment is: If I had the attitude and commitment in my job that I experienced in my interaction with the Canberra Cops, I’d really, really get my ass kicked!

PS: On a positive note… in my last 4 years in Canberra I had no encounter with any crime – and hence with the police, so maybe everything is great now…

time to “test the market” and put an end to the cosy relationship between the ACT government and AFP. There are a few examples of purchaser-provider relationships in government administration in this country. The are no examples that are not dysfunctional.

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