Represent - October 10
John Howard warns of a terrorist threat caused by the global financial crisis, whilst the Republicans merely imply one will be caused by a vote for Barack Obama
Problems With Out Education System [4:42m]: Download CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS THREAT: ORANGE [3:21m]: Download Name & Shame [5:36m]: Download US Election: Republicans In Trouble [4:46m]: Download US Election: Whose Campaign Is The Dirtiest? [4:40m]: Download US Election: Palin - "The Heels Are On, The Gloves Are Off" [3:46m]: Download P.S. [2:39m]: DownloadDebate erupts this week on Represent as principals around Australia lament that the good ol’ Three R’s are being tossed out of the primary school curriculum in favour of sex, drug, car and bike safety training. As the line of responsibility for these things blurs between parents and teachers, principals say that the original purpose of schools to teach the basics of maths and english is being lost in the frey. If that wasn’t enough to get you worrying about our education system, our Universities are now under the investigation of a federal Senate inquiry regarding bias among lecturers. The inquiry is the result of a campaign by the Young Liberals: “Make education fair” - and fits in nicely with accusation after accusation by the right of left-leaning bias rife throughout the education sector. It’s probably pretty true, but Represent feels that left-leaning tendencies are not something which should be weeded out, but merely the by-product of being educated. In other news, Australia’s glorious ex-Prime Minister John Howard was in the news this week, warning of the very threat that a terrorist attackcould occur now that world leaders were “distracted by the global financial crisis”. Those terrorists. They’ll get you like this everytime.
Moving to the US, it’s getting to the point where the fate of the Republicans is looking sealed as a series of poll are pointing directly towards a landslide for Barack Obama and the Democrats, providing it all goes well and they don’t accidentally print Barack Osama on the ti- oh wait.
But it’s still looking like not even fuck-ups from the Federal Electoral Commission will pull off a 2000-esque victory for the McCain camp. No, they must make their own luck; enter Sarah Palin, who’s brought up Obama’s “relationship” with Weather Underground member Bill Ayers. The Weather Underground was this US domestic terrorist group that bombed places like the Pentagon in the early 70s when Obama was a child. Basically, these two guys ended up sitting on the board of the same charity group for a while in the 1990s and haven’t really talked since then (they ran into each other in the street in 2006 once OMG). Anyway, Palin now says Obama is “palling around with terrorists who target their own country”. As Palin says, the heels are on - but the gloves are off, proving once again that flagrant sexism is okay as long as it’s self-deprecating.
In the very same week, John McCain’s wife, Cindy, said in an interview that Barack Obama’s campaign has been “the dirtiest in American history”, earning a collective facepalm from anyone who’s been watching this race. On the same day, the New York Times called the McCain campaign the most appalling in recent memory, but THAT’S WHAT THEY’D WANT YOU TO THINK.
