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Aussie Politician Threatens To Contact Employers of Satirical Article "Likers"
Chuq writes "Tasmanian Liberal candidate for Bass, Andrew Nikolic, was the subject of a satirical article by NewExaminer on Facebook. Nikolic didn't like it, which is understandable. However he then went to considerable lengths to identify the people who liked the article, find out their employers (via their Facebook profiles) and 'name and shame' them on a follow-up post on his own page. Andrew Nikolic has a history of poorly handling conflicting views on his Facebook page, resulting in creation of another page, 'Andrew Nikolic blocked me.'"
Doesn't he know that a real politician gets his enemies back in *secret*?
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
NOTICE TO SLASH DOT USERS
All posts on this article will be taken to constitute mockery of Tasmanian Liberal candidate for Bass, Andrew Nikolic, and the Slash Dotters in question will be dealt with accordingly.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
He's not even a politician - he's preselected to run as a candidate in the as-yet-unscheduled federal election, which isn't likely to occur until 2013.
As far as I'm concerned, any politician who gets in a hissy fit over political satire simply doesn't have the balls to be a politician, regardless of any actual policies. Move over and make way for someone who can take a bit of criticism.
I don't know what qualifies as cyberstalking under 'stralian law, but this looks like it might qualify. I don't know any law that limits cyberstalking to just one target. Digging out an employer is quite an intrusion, obviously intended to intimidate.
Of course there will be some Parlimentary Privilige, but I believe that applies only to comment on the floor, not elsewhere.
According to his own page (https://www.facebook.com/AndrewNikolic4Bass/posts/327230677345451), "I have removed my response on this issue from Facebook"
Which means that the link up top no longer works.
"She's furniture with a pulse"
$0.02 - Nikolic needs a better campaign manager, if s/he is letting him do this kind of crazy shit.
I have the hiccups.
I'd hate to see what Tasmania's conservatives are like 8-(
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Since the satire story is not directly linked.. just go to the "On Facebook" link above and down to May 3rd... It's the only post that day... Lets see if we can get it over 100,000.... It's only 67 right now....
Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com
Don't care about the troll, but for anyone who doesn't want to look it up:
"Liberal" in Australia's Liberal Party refers to economic liberalism, not center-left politics. They're pretty firm in right-wing territory, including the obligatory hate against homosexuals and women's rights. Add gun crazies, religious zealots and Birchers and you'd have the GOP*.
*I'll refrain from making the obvious "Remove gun crazies, religious zealots and Birchers from the GOP and you're left with nothing" joke. Well, maybe not.
It's a bit of a shock, I know, but those strange and barbarous foreign people are allowed to use words in a way that is different than their use in the US. I'm not sure why Jesus allows it; but it happens.
In this case, the Tasmanian Liberals are more or less similar to those American 'Conservatives' who are still pretending to endorse the 'compassionate conservative' label.
Note key phrases such as "We believe in the importance of the family and that the standards of a free society should support family ideals.", "We further believe government should not compete with an efficient private sector", "We believe that Australia has a constructive role to play in maintaining international peace in alliance with other free nations", and "We further believe that competitive enterprise, the free choice of consumers in the marketplace and individual effort will maximise economic growth and national prosperity.".
You'd need a local observer to say to what degree these reflect genuine classical 'Liberalism', in something resembling the 19th century sense, and to what degree they reflect the rhetorical coating of a group of privatization-crazed crony capitalists with strong ties to local extraction industries and an enthusiasm for foreign policy adventurism; but these are not the 'liberals' in the American sense of the term...
You are free to express your opinions, but there are a few things to keep in mind. If you support an opinion by 'liking' it, you are basically supporting it with your name. It's like signing a petition: you surrender your anonymity in order to give more weight to the statement. But that will also mean that others disagreeing with you might like you less in the future, which is why you should only give your name to something you really agree with. This guy basically just republished the data others made publicly available on Facebook, which he is also free to do.
"Tasmanian Liberal candidate for Bass, Andrew Nikolic"
So who do the Liberals have running for lead singer, guitar and drums?
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Wow, nice way to bust "macho Australian" and "tough vet" stereotypes in one fell swoop. Please let him be a "defence of marriage" type as well, those are always the funniest when they get busted trawling for trade in airport bathrooms.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Some politicians think it applies only to people who agree with them.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Fuck you, I am the cyber police.
Try me.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Nikolic's profile on his campaign site seems to almost entirely given over to describing his military experience. A decent military record is certainly a positive trait, yet a bit strange when overplayed to the exclusion of almost everything else. Did he miss his chance for a position in Myanmar, and is now settling for Tasmania?
JC
The terms stem from the french parliament where progressives used to sit on the left side and "conservatives" on the right side. These days there are no universal definitions of what are left and right wing and the terms are even more meaningless if we look at economic politics. For example, both socialists and anarchists are considered left wing, though their views on the desired economic system are like night and day. I think that most widely agreed definitions base "left-wing" on some form of social justice and equality and right-wing on being conservative (both economic and social conservatism). That's not 100% perfect but it's pretty much as good as can be expect for such simple terms.
I'm not aware of any point in history or any location on earth, in which the terms would have referred solely on economic principles and not on the whole parties/social movements/etc...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_society
I hear ya.....tell that to Obama...I've never seen a guy with such thin skin.
There is actual real criticism that could be made of Obama. I rarely hear conservatives making it -- but instead get bizarrely off the mark dribble like this. Any outside observer will note that Obama is a very cool rational person who speaks in measured tones -- quite the opposite of what you suggest.
This is, of course, falling on deaf ears, since perspective is completely alien to people who say things like "Obama has such a thin skin". You just know that it comes from some right-wing echo chamber that's disconnected from the rest of the world. I know it is scary to break out of this comfy padded cell, but seriously, this is just madness.
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right