Ages ago when I was doing standup I noticed that there were a lot of comedians with various psychological issues. Some were flat out barking. Others were brimming. There were a few who were just plain miserable. At least one I knew fairly well ended up topping himself, the poor bastard. I know of other premature deaths of Aussie comics due to suicide or resulting indirectly from drug or alcohol abuse.
These sad tales don't seem all that surprising. They do confirm that entrenched "sad clown" stereotype, after all. I've long thought that this had a lot of truth to it and that comics are much more likely to be mentally ill than the wider population.
But as I've gotten older and observed the behaviour of so-called normal folk in more mainstream society I'm not so sure. Your average punter seems to be catching up to screwed up funny buggers when it comes to the prevalence and severity of mental health issues.
I may be wrong. But I think reality TV has got a lot to do with it. The eagerness with which so many people expose their inner, emotional lives to entertain millions of people they'll never meet (and who don't give a tinker's about 'em) is truly disturbing. I reckon you'd have to be a bit psychologically disordered to want to appear in some of those shows to start off with. And if you actually really enjoy watching them, well, I think you'd have to have some issues as well.
The idea that reality TV participants are an unstable bunch seems to be borne out by the fact that many of them have committed suicide in recent years. There have been a lot of these shows, sure. But 21 mostly young people dying by their own hands is an alarmingly high number however you cut it:
Dr Richard Levak, a California-based personality expert who has worked on several reality shows, including Survivor, says the spate of suicides among reality-TV stars boils down to a chicken-or-the-egg debate.
“Does [appearing on reality television] attract people with a higher rate of instability?” Levak asks. “Are people who are unstable more interested? Or do the vagaries of reality TV precipitate people killing themselves?”
I think both factors are at play. Reality shows are toxic, destructive environments that attract unstable individuals. And squillions are watching them every day! It has to be having some negative effects on the wider population.
I think the main one is that it promotes a toxic cult of narcissism (which is also fed by social media). More and more people these days seem to believe they need an audience to feel like they are worthwhile individuals.
Consequently they seek out fame at all costs. If they attain it, they're on a high. But when it is taken from them -- which is of course inevitable -- they end up trapped in a very deep low. Some decide that suicide is the only way out.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 21, 2016
WA's AOTY Anne Carey is another SJW, it seems
There's been an enormous amount of controversy over the choice of gender "equality" warrior David Morrison as Australian of the Year. The anger has definitely been justified IMO. The selection of people like Morrison reveal the malign influence of the politically correct Left in a process that should not be primarily ideological.
There are many high achievers from all over Oz who are nominated of course. And the top West Australian AOTY is Ebola nurse Anne Carey from Geraldton. From this summary it would seem that she'd been chosen mainly for her undeniable compassion and courage in helping sufferers of that horrific disease.
But here she is in an interview with the Sunday Times. And she's arcing up about workplace bullying in Geraldton. Eh?
WEST Australian of the Year Anne Carey says she felt “less stressed” working with ebola patients overseas than as a nurse in the WA Health Department.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, Ms Carey told of her harrowing experience of bullying at Esperance Hospital and the ensuing demoralising grievance process.
She has been so disgusted by the overall bullying culture within the state’s health sector that she was devoting 2016 to “raising awareness of workplace bullying and its negative impact on the health care workforce in WA”.
Now, I'm not saying that there's no issue to be addressed here. There may well be a toxic culture of bullying in her work environment. But isn't it interesting that she's making such a point of utilizing the, er, anti-bully pulpit her new-found status affords to try to bring about cultural change? Seems likely this agenda of hers had a lot to do with her being nominated for AOTY in the first place IMHO.
Her official listing on the site describes her as a "medical warrior". But perhaps "social justice warrior" would have been a better choice of words.
There are many high achievers from all over Oz who are nominated of course. And the top West Australian AOTY is Ebola nurse Anne Carey from Geraldton. From this summary it would seem that she'd been chosen mainly for her undeniable compassion and courage in helping sufferers of that horrific disease.
But here she is in an interview with the Sunday Times. And she's arcing up about workplace bullying in Geraldton. Eh?
WEST Australian of the Year Anne Carey says she felt “less stressed” working with ebola patients overseas than as a nurse in the WA Health Department.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, Ms Carey told of her harrowing experience of bullying at Esperance Hospital and the ensuing demoralising grievance process.
She has been so disgusted by the overall bullying culture within the state’s health sector that she was devoting 2016 to “raising awareness of workplace bullying and its negative impact on the health care workforce in WA”.
Now, I'm not saying that there's no issue to be addressed here. There may well be a toxic culture of bullying in her work environment. But isn't it interesting that she's making such a point of utilizing the, er, anti-bully pulpit her new-found status affords to try to bring about cultural change? Seems likely this agenda of hers had a lot to do with her being nominated for AOTY in the first place IMHO.
Her official listing on the site describes her as a "medical warrior". But perhaps "social justice warrior" would have been a better choice of words.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
JB O'Reilly's spared slap for decorative cigarette ads
Here in Sydney half the city is absolutely seething over the lockout laws that have devastated Kings Cross. And over in my old home of Perth there's another pub-related issue revealing the petty stupidity of nanny statists. It involves the charming "eatin' and drinkin' emporium" JB O'Reilly's in West Leederville.
See, they have some ornamental decades-old durrie ads on their walls and anti-smoking zealots wanted to spank 'em for it! Thankfully Premier Barnett scotched the proposed punishment:
“I’m overruling it,” he said.
“It is ridiculous - they are collector’s pieces. They show an era gone by. It’s not promoting smoking
“If that’s the way they choose to decorate their pub, good on them. I support them.”
So funny that lefties in WA have done their darnedest to portray Barnett as this arrogant, out of touch silvertail type. "Emperor", they call him. But while he is from the upmarket western suburbs, the reality is that he's got a much better idea of what most normal, working class folk value than his political foes.
Another prime example of his common sense approach that riled the fluffy wuffies occurred a coupla years back. It was in the wake of a spate of fatal shark attacks and greenies were shrieking up a storm because some noahs had been terminated with extreme prejudice. In one news grab he said something along these lines: "People should calm down. After all, this is just a fish we're talking about."
Like a red blood spill to a bull shark it was. Riled the moonbats even more!
No wonder the guy keeps winning elections.
See, they have some ornamental decades-old durrie ads on their walls and anti-smoking zealots wanted to spank 'em for it! Thankfully Premier Barnett scotched the proposed punishment:
“I’m overruling it,” he said.
“It is ridiculous - they are collector’s pieces. They show an era gone by. It’s not promoting smoking
“If that’s the way they choose to decorate their pub, good on them. I support them.”
So funny that lefties in WA have done their darnedest to portray Barnett as this arrogant, out of touch silvertail type. "Emperor", they call him. But while he is from the upmarket western suburbs, the reality is that he's got a much better idea of what most normal, working class folk value than his political foes.
Another prime example of his common sense approach that riled the fluffy wuffies occurred a coupla years back. It was in the wake of a spate of fatal shark attacks and greenies were shrieking up a storm because some noahs had been terminated with extreme prejudice. In one news grab he said something along these lines: "People should calm down. After all, this is just a fish we're talking about."
Like a red blood spill to a bull shark it was. Riled the moonbats even more!
No wonder the guy keeps winning elections.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Caitlyn Jenner is a Republican. Who'da thunk it?
The astonishing transformation of macho-seeming former world-class athlete Bruce Jenner into the glamour-puss sleb Caitlyn Jenner says many things about the current state of Western society. Needless to say, most of these pertain to gender and sexuality. There's the idea of what gender actually means and how society should react to it; what the legal ramifications of a sex change are, and so on.
But there's also a more strictly ideological, even party political dimension to the ongoing story. This is highlighted by the fact that Caitlyn is not a liberal, as you'd be forgiven for assuming. Far from it:
There’s an elephant in the room, and as far as Caitlyn Jenner is concerned, it has more to do with her Republican politics than her gender identity.
“I have gotten more flak for being a conservative Republican than I have for being trans,” the “I Am Cait” star and transgender icon told students at the University of Pennsylvania Wednesday night.
That just says it all doesn't it?
This derails the politically correct narrative that social justice warriors are always trying to enforce, eh! They've been repeating this lie that all Republicans are stodgy, patriarchal white blokes who look down on women and the feminine -- as well as anyone with an unorthodox sexual identity. Yet here's one of their number who's bloody well changed sex!
The SJWs other fave stereotype is that Republicans are censorious, hateful, oppressive. But Jenner herself says that the snark she gets is mostly from liberals -- Democrats -- because she doesn't support them and their ideology.
Just goes to show that the cultural Left aren't really for diversity and tolerance as they purport to be. Their main aim is to get you to accept their grim, simplistic narrative and toe the line. If you dare to be a complex individual with the courage to think for yourself and reject their dogmas they don't like that at all. They'll even lambaste you for it, even if you are a member of one the most marginalized sexual minority groups of all.
What a bunch o' bigots!
But there's also a more strictly ideological, even party political dimension to the ongoing story. This is highlighted by the fact that Caitlyn is not a liberal, as you'd be forgiven for assuming. Far from it:
There’s an elephant in the room, and as far as Caitlyn Jenner is concerned, it has more to do with her Republican politics than her gender identity.
“I have gotten more flak for being a conservative Republican than I have for being trans,” the “I Am Cait” star and transgender icon told students at the University of Pennsylvania Wednesday night.
That just says it all doesn't it?
This derails the politically correct narrative that social justice warriors are always trying to enforce, eh! They've been repeating this lie that all Republicans are stodgy, patriarchal white blokes who look down on women and the feminine -- as well as anyone with an unorthodox sexual identity. Yet here's one of their number who's bloody well changed sex!
The SJWs other fave stereotype is that Republicans are censorious, hateful, oppressive. But Jenner herself says that the snark she gets is mostly from liberals -- Democrats -- because she doesn't support them and their ideology.
Just goes to show that the cultural Left aren't really for diversity and tolerance as they purport to be. Their main aim is to get you to accept their grim, simplistic narrative and toe the line. If you dare to be a complex individual with the courage to think for yourself and reject their dogmas they don't like that at all. They'll even lambaste you for it, even if you are a member of one the most marginalized sexual minority groups of all.
What a bunch o' bigots!
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Virginia Hausegger vs Sam Armytage
Spats between the smug, finger-wagging socialists of their ABC and the more popular, harder working and generally better paid reporters and pundits of commercial media are a given. Actually, they generate a fair chunk of content for both realms of the fourth estate. Without their enemies to rail at, quite a few journos would be lost for words, that's for sure.
Usually these conflicts are between blokes, which means they're mainly focused on ideological point-scoring -- and they do tend to stick to the rules. So, can be a tad boring after a while...
But if it's a coupla sheilas squaring off? Well, along with the aesthetic element there's no rule book to start with, which makes the show more watchable IMO. It's a bit like the difference between boxing and mud wrestling.
Take this little snarkfest between Sam Armytage and Virginia Hausegger. As the Daily Mail reports:
Senior ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger has revealed she was once on an interview panel which failed to give Sunrise presenter Samantha Armytage a job.
This revelation comes after an ongoing public argument between the women which started when Haussegger wrote a scathing opinion piece about an embarrassing Sunrise segment, labelling Armytage a 'bimbo'.
Armytage hit back by saying she didn't know who the ABC journalist was - but that backfired on social media when Haussegger told the world how they had met.
Will be interesting to see if this fires up any more, or just peters -- sorry, petas -- out.
But just on Hausegger's original sledging of Armytage: Interesting how feminists often get so viciously sexist when criticizing other women, eh? In this example, Hausegger called Armytage a "mindless bimbo". Yet any male journo using such a term to describe a high profile woman would risk being widely lambasted as misogynist -- especially if she were one of the socialist sisterhood. Could easily lose his job, or have to publicly plead for forgiveness for his crimes against all of chickdom to retain it.
So, massive double standards apply, as is so often the case. Still, this farcical element kinda makes the whole show more entertaining, don't ya reckon?
Usually these conflicts are between blokes, which means they're mainly focused on ideological point-scoring -- and they do tend to stick to the rules. So, can be a tad boring after a while...
But if it's a coupla sheilas squaring off? Well, along with the aesthetic element there's no rule book to start with, which makes the show more watchable IMO. It's a bit like the difference between boxing and mud wrestling.
Take this little snarkfest between Sam Armytage and Virginia Hausegger. As the Daily Mail reports:
Senior ABC journalist Virginia Haussegger has revealed she was once on an interview panel which failed to give Sunrise presenter Samantha Armytage a job.
This revelation comes after an ongoing public argument between the women which started when Haussegger wrote a scathing opinion piece about an embarrassing Sunrise segment, labelling Armytage a 'bimbo'.
Armytage hit back by saying she didn't know who the ABC journalist was - but that backfired on social media when Haussegger told the world how they had met.
Will be interesting to see if this fires up any more, or just peters -- sorry, petas -- out.
But just on Hausegger's original sledging of Armytage: Interesting how feminists often get so viciously sexist when criticizing other women, eh? In this example, Hausegger called Armytage a "mindless bimbo". Yet any male journo using such a term to describe a high profile woman would risk being widely lambasted as misogynist -- especially if she were one of the socialist sisterhood. Could easily lose his job, or have to publicly plead for forgiveness for his crimes against all of chickdom to retain it.
So, massive double standards apply, as is so often the case. Still, this farcical element kinda makes the whole show more entertaining, don't ya reckon?
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Stephen Fry leaves Twitter. SJWs got to him, too!
A helluva lot of people on Twitter have been long time followers of Stephen Fry. I'm not one of them, but this isn't because I don't like him. He's a leftie, sure. But he's so funny, witty, articulate and well-read. He's also not a censorious type; much more of a free speech supporter in the tradition of Christopher Hitchens. The reason I never got around to checking out his tweets was lack of time, really. I'm following too many smart people already...
In any case it looks like I've missed my chance to do this -- at least for a long while. He's left Twitter, see. And surprise surprise it was due in major part to those vile SJWs! Turns out they were not amused by what he said while presenting the BAFTAs:
Fry has been presenting the Bafta film awards for 11 years and audiences have become used to his cutting wit, often involving quips about many of the stars involved.
Beavan, who won the Bafta for Best Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road, came onto the stage at London's Royal Opera House wearing a black leather jacket, white t-shirt and dark trousers.
Following her acceptance speech and once she had left the stage, Fry said: "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards dressed like a bag lady."
Fulminating frightbats aplenty went apoplectic over this quip. It turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back. In Fry's own words:
To leave that metaphor, let us grieve at what twitter has become. A stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous who love to second-guess, to leap to conclusions and be offended – worse, to be offended on behalf of others they do not even know. It’s as nasty and unwholesome a characteristic as can be imagined. It doesn’t matter whether they think they’re defending women, men, transgender people, Muslims, humanists … the ghastliness is absolutely the same. It makes sensible people want to take an absolutely opposite point of view. I’ve heard people shriek their secularism in such a way as to make me want instantly to become an evangelical Christian.
Given that Fry is renowned for his defiant atheism, that last line is pretty significant!
Though he's in a class way above the vast majority of socialists, this is still a case of the Left eating its own. While it is an unfortunate development it is another sign that the scourge of the SJWs is likely nearing its end.
Hell, if a mega-famous gay atheist and darling of the Left can become a target of these bolshie bullies it proves no one is safe from them. That he finds their attacks so dispiriting that he throws in the, er, twowel is a testament to just how toxic they truly are. From now on, either those under attack from these vicious trolls will become immune to them or end up leaving the social networks en masse. I think the former outcome is the most likely.
Well, I certainly hope it is...
In any case it looks like I've missed my chance to do this -- at least for a long while. He's left Twitter, see. And surprise surprise it was due in major part to those vile SJWs! Turns out they were not amused by what he said while presenting the BAFTAs:
Fry has been presenting the Bafta film awards for 11 years and audiences have become used to his cutting wit, often involving quips about many of the stars involved.
Beavan, who won the Bafta for Best Costume Design for Mad Max: Fury Road, came onto the stage at London's Royal Opera House wearing a black leather jacket, white t-shirt and dark trousers.
Following her acceptance speech and once she had left the stage, Fry said: "Only one of the great cinematic costume designers would come to the awards dressed like a bag lady."
Fulminating frightbats aplenty went apoplectic over this quip. It turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back. In Fry's own words:
To leave that metaphor, let us grieve at what twitter has become. A stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous who love to second-guess, to leap to conclusions and be offended – worse, to be offended on behalf of others they do not even know. It’s as nasty and unwholesome a characteristic as can be imagined. It doesn’t matter whether they think they’re defending women, men, transgender people, Muslims, humanists … the ghastliness is absolutely the same. It makes sensible people want to take an absolutely opposite point of view. I’ve heard people shriek their secularism in such a way as to make me want instantly to become an evangelical Christian.
Given that Fry is renowned for his defiant atheism, that last line is pretty significant!
Though he's in a class way above the vast majority of socialists, this is still a case of the Left eating its own. While it is an unfortunate development it is another sign that the scourge of the SJWs is likely nearing its end.
Hell, if a mega-famous gay atheist and darling of the Left can become a target of these bolshie bullies it proves no one is safe from them. That he finds their attacks so dispiriting that he throws in the, er, twowel is a testament to just how toxic they truly are. From now on, either those under attack from these vicious trolls will become immune to them or end up leaving the social networks en masse. I think the former outcome is the most likely.
Well, I certainly hope it is...
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Ironboy vs Ultron reminds us of good vs evil in the real world
If you're in Sydney doubtless you will have heard or read about Ironboy vs Ultron. It's a kind of epic one day event run by Make a Wish with the cooperation of the NSW Police. This report sums up what it's about:
Nine-year-old Domenic, who has cystic fibrosis, has always dreamed of being a superhero — and today that wish comes true, with him being sent on a special mission under his new identity of Iron Boy.
Of course it's a great way to give this kid a truly memorable experience. It's fantastic PR for a worthy cause as well as for the boys in blue.
Now, maybe I'm gonna sound like a flint-hearted arsehole when I say this. But I can't help feeling a tad unsettled by the exercize. Now, my reservations are not so much about Make a Wish and the plods, but the mainstream media in general.
They have really gotten into the spirit of this event big time. They've been enthusiastically playing along, broadcasting updates on a fictional story about good vs evil. And surely a big part of their motivation for taking part is to do some good.
So, there's a lot to like about what they've been doing today. But there's another epic war going on in the real world. That's the one between the West and Islamism. Now I'm not saying that the former is wholly good, and the latter wholly evil. But surely when it comes to Islamic State in particular, evil is not too strong a word. (Hell, they roam around chopping kids heads off, pack raping women and girls, burning people alive! What else can you call them?) Also, it's a tad naff to say that this global conflict is only about good and evil. But that's definitely part of the wider story, which is really about civilization and barbarism.
And in this very real war -- which has already taken lives in this very city, and many thousands elsewhere in the world -- the mainstream media's reaction has been strange, and reticent. It's like they don't really want to know about it.
Now, I'm not saying that they all have to side with the democratic West in every case, although it would be a pleasant surprise if they did occasionally. It would also be heartening if they reported developments objectively (and comprehensively) much more often than they have been.
The really disturbing thing is how sympathetic to Islamism and disdainful towards Western values they so often are. Rather than doing what they're supposed to do and telling us what's going on without fear or favour, they've been selective about what they report. They've even occasionally engaged in cover-ups about the extent of the violence and depravity of some Muslims. Events in Rotherham, Sweden and Germany come to mind here. Then there's the mainstream media's line that Islam never has anything to do with terrorism, and their tendency to condemn anyone who criticizes it as being Islamophobic, and racist.
It's so silly it's actually kinda childish. (Which may actually explain why they're so enthused about reporting on a cartoonish heroism tale to make a kid's fantasy come true!)
Now, I'm not saying that they literally believe in Ironboy and Ultron. Nor am I saying they should apply the moral simplicity of today's theatre to the real world. I'm just noticing the incongruity. My point is that this is a good cause that the media have taken seriously and have been fired up about -- albeit for just one day. Yet there's another good cause that they seem very reluctant to get behind -- namely, documenting the extent of Islamist evil in the world.
You gotta wonder: Why do they find it so difficult?
Nine-year-old Domenic, who has cystic fibrosis, has always dreamed of being a superhero — and today that wish comes true, with him being sent on a special mission under his new identity of Iron Boy.
Of course it's a great way to give this kid a truly memorable experience. It's fantastic PR for a worthy cause as well as for the boys in blue.
Now, maybe I'm gonna sound like a flint-hearted arsehole when I say this. But I can't help feeling a tad unsettled by the exercize. Now, my reservations are not so much about Make a Wish and the plods, but the mainstream media in general.
They have really gotten into the spirit of this event big time. They've been enthusiastically playing along, broadcasting updates on a fictional story about good vs evil. And surely a big part of their motivation for taking part is to do some good.
So, there's a lot to like about what they've been doing today. But there's another epic war going on in the real world. That's the one between the West and Islamism. Now I'm not saying that the former is wholly good, and the latter wholly evil. But surely when it comes to Islamic State in particular, evil is not too strong a word. (Hell, they roam around chopping kids heads off, pack raping women and girls, burning people alive! What else can you call them?) Also, it's a tad naff to say that this global conflict is only about good and evil. But that's definitely part of the wider story, which is really about civilization and barbarism.
And in this very real war -- which has already taken lives in this very city, and many thousands elsewhere in the world -- the mainstream media's reaction has been strange, and reticent. It's like they don't really want to know about it.
Now, I'm not saying that they all have to side with the democratic West in every case, although it would be a pleasant surprise if they did occasionally. It would also be heartening if they reported developments objectively (and comprehensively) much more often than they have been.
The really disturbing thing is how sympathetic to Islamism and disdainful towards Western values they so often are. Rather than doing what they're supposed to do and telling us what's going on without fear or favour, they've been selective about what they report. They've even occasionally engaged in cover-ups about the extent of the violence and depravity of some Muslims. Events in Rotherham, Sweden and Germany come to mind here. Then there's the mainstream media's line that Islam never has anything to do with terrorism, and their tendency to condemn anyone who criticizes it as being Islamophobic, and racist.
It's so silly it's actually kinda childish. (Which may actually explain why they're so enthused about reporting on a cartoonish heroism tale to make a kid's fantasy come true!)
Now, I'm not saying that they literally believe in Ironboy and Ultron. Nor am I saying they should apply the moral simplicity of today's theatre to the real world. I'm just noticing the incongruity. My point is that this is a good cause that the media have taken seriously and have been fired up about -- albeit for just one day. Yet there's another good cause that they seem very reluctant to get behind -- namely, documenting the extent of Islamist evil in the world.
You gotta wonder: Why do they find it so difficult?
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