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The Forum > Article Comments > Explaining Australia’s fall in the RSF World Press Freedom Index > Comments

Explaining Australia’s fall in the RSF World Press Freedom Index : Comments

By Mark Pearson, published 10/2/2012

Reporters without Borders pushes Australia down the list of press freedoms.

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I was totally off topic Graham and you have done well to ignore the provocation and get the discussion back to the issue.

I'll just make a couple more points on the issue of IQ and racism and hope that you will publish something in the future that will provide an opportunity to discuss this issue in more depth.

The way I see it, the problem is not with the low IQ; the problem is with the conservative ideology that makes it easy for low IQ people to be lazy in their thinking.

As you say, IQ can and does change over the lifespan, and so it would be a good thing if people try to use whatever intellectual apparatus they have been given and in that way grow their ability to think in a more nuanced way. Leftist ways of thinking do require more complex reasoning and a more rigorous type of evidence.

The really good thing about this researh is that it will force you right wing people to understand the problems with your conception of IQ as an explanation for the differential between white and black success, as presented in that really stupid book "The Bell Curve".

When you have understood how useless the idea of IQ is, as a measure of man and his achievements you will then be able to move on and become better people and the world will be a better place.

Oh and have you noticed that not being racist is one of the things that distinguishes our western ideals from those of the 'less evolved' 'races' who are so very racist.

One last question; Graham do you still believe that the aboriginal people practiced cannibalism and that they have a lower IQ than we white people? I remember having a discussion about this issue way back before OLO was like it is now.
Posted by Mollydukes, Sunday, 12 February 2012 7:52:50 AM
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Mollydikes asks: "One last question; Graham do you still believe that the aboriginal people practiced cannibalism and that they have a lower IQ than we white people? I remember having a discussion about this issue way back before OLO was like it is now." There is ample writings on this. My ancestors who were early settlers told of the practice. It was a spiritual practice. If a babe or infant was a burden in the struggle for survival then it was dispatched and the mother would eat it. Thus consuming the spirit of the babe so it could be born again at a later time. Also 'Daisy Bates' writings have been denigrated by the establishment, however she had a wealth of knowledge among aboriginals that was far and away above modern day anthropologists.
Posted by Topomountain, Sunday, 12 February 2012 8:39:53 AM
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The issue of banning free expression because it cause offence has gone too far. People should not be prosecuted for for raising genuine issues just because it touches a raw nerve.

The Andrew Bolt case is a prime example. The issue of individuals claiming aboriginal status (and the financial perks that go with it) with the most tenuous connections is a legitimate issue. That Bolt handled it badly does not change the issue that his rights to expression are being trampled on.

This combined with Labor's assault on the media is why we are falling in the RSF index.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Sunday, 12 February 2012 9:23:33 AM
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Bolt was just plain wrong. There is no issue of "rights of expression." To inform yourself on the issue, however, you have to read articles not published by Bolt's then-employer. Like this: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/in-black-and-white-andrew-bolt-trifled-with-the-facts-20110928-1kxba.html

Always, when analysing news or opinion peices, you need to look at the money trail - who owns the media, who is being paid by who, what boards are people on etc. I wonder sometimes how the "debate" on the original mining tax would have gone if the media back then had noticed that Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Mining Co had not paid any tax for 7 years? It would have put some things into perspective....this is exactly where the media is failing us: giving us the facts: instead we get uninformed opinion and the whinging of opinionated rich tax-avoiders, with no analysis and no information on the money trail.
Posted by Johnj, Sunday, 12 February 2012 10:14:37 AM
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JJ,

Bolt made factual errors, but that is not what he was prosecuted for, If he had made no errors, the judgement would still have applied.

That the topic had a racial element, effectively makes it potentially criminal to discuss.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Sunday, 12 February 2012 1:47:31 PM
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SPQR

What actually in the link don't you agree with:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/feb/08/fox-news-lord-monckton-australia

Perhaps you prefer this view:

http://www.readfearn.com/2012/02/monckton-rinehart-and-a-plan-to-capture-the-australian-media/

Gina Rinehart has an agenda to push and is increasing her influence in MSM - she is prepared to pay, big

.

SM

Yes, Bolt does make "factual errors", all the time. He also makes stuff up.

>> That the topic had a racial element, effectively makes it potentially criminal to discuss. <<

So don't, nuff said already.

Either way, neither Bolt nor his employer appealed the court's judgement.
Posted by bonmot, Sunday, 12 February 2012 2:18:21 PM
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