this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2024
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A Boring Dystopia

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Investigative journalist friendlyjordies gets firebombed as a silencing tactic, police do nothing, eventually forcing them to take down their investigation. (www.youtube.com)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Didn't know where else to post this, but it's pretty emblematic of how deeply corrupt our society is. Let me know if you think there's a better community to post this in.

Back to the subject, the Streisand Effect is in force (taken down video reuploaded). This is me doing my small part in that.

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[–] [email protected] 95 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

Titles not super accurate.

He investigated a previous politicians connections with a crime family, his house mysteriously got firebombed.

Police charged one of the members of the crime family, but jordies and his team were still receiving death threats so they decided to take it down rather than risk being murdered in escalation.

The politician took him to court over defamation and was awarded $715,000. He (John Barilaro) is still a massive corrupt piece of shit, but his political career has certainly received some karma at least.

The video was up for a long period so it got lots views and a lot of people know about the whole fiasco so it did its job at least.

The whole situation is heaps fucked, but mad respect for FJ for sticking to his guns for so long.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago

karma

No karma here. The bastard won.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago

Police charged one of the members of the crime family, but jordies and his team were still receiving death threats so they decided to take it down rather than risk being murdered in escalation.

I don't think the title is inaccurate. They literally said they took the video down because of the terror attack. Nabbing the fall guy, and doing nothing else pretty much counts as "doing nothing" in my opinion.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The politician took him to court over defamation and was awarded $715,000. He (John Barilaro) is still a massive corrupt piece of shit, but his political career has certainly received some karma at least.

Wait..isn't the martyr points from winning a defamation case the best thing that could possibly happen to the career of a piece of shit demagogue?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Aussie defo laws are fucked and conservative pollies sue people all the time.

In this case the pollie admitted to pork barrelling (unfairly favouring electorates based on political expedience vs merit for projects) in Parliament. The defo case was about whether he pork barreled. Because he said it in Parliament where privilege applies his own words weren't admissible as evidence in favour of shanks' case.

Just normal stuff.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ah. Parliamentary privilege I think it's called. They have that bullshit in the US and the UK afair, perhaps other places too.

Really helps public trust when parliamentary debate is exempt from the rules that us commoners must abide by!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

It makes sense for stuff like whistle blowing. you don't exactly want fear of prosecution affecting someone presenting evidence of wrongdoing.

But like, if reporting on how someone else described themselves in Parliament can get you sued because they can say "prove I said that" then that's a bit chilling. Idk where the balance is, that's something we all need to have a serious chat about, but it's not here

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

It makes sense for stuff like whistle blowing. you don't exactly want fear of prosecution affecting someone presenting evidence of wrongdoing

Except whistle-blowers have specific protections already, so that doesn't really apply.

But like, if reporting on how someone else described themselves in Parliament can get you sued because they can say "prove I said that" then that's a bit chilling

To say the least!

Idk where the balance is

I do! Holding politicians accountable like everyone else. THAT'S the balance.

The bar for proving defamation is already high enough that there's no risk of accidentally chilling honest political speech.

If you honestly believe it's true, it can't be defamation. Politicians would only get in trouble for wilfully false defamatory statements, which I'm 100% in favor of happening much more.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Well in Australia whistle blowers don't haha. Authoritarian shithole lacking town squares to prevent assembly that we are.

But it's not just for pollies, like if I'm before Parliament presenting something or say making a submission in favour of legalising weed or whatever and I admit to a crime I'm also protected. In theory Parliament should always have the best information to make decisions and people there can't present info fearlessly if they can be arrested mid speech (or when they walk out the door).

It's a reaction to some of the horrible stuff authoritarians used in the past so I get why. It doesn't tend to be used that way, and that's a problem of implementation and culture (and that Westminster representative democracy isn't really very Democratic at all). So we do have the same treatment as pollies but not the same resources, it's a bridges and rich and poor thing and I think that reflects problems in our legal system.

Tweeking defamation for public figures is probably my preferred solution. Like I don't think rich powerful people with platforms should be able to sue random twitter users for getting too fired up in their expression of frustration. Or that stuff like the Jordies situation can happen at all is nonsense. If I show up in Parliament and say "I to sodomy, legalise it I'm normal" (btw hand jobs and vibrators are sodomy, we're all sodomites :p) and someone says "naeva admits to being sodomite" in the paper the next day, and can make a convincing case that publicising my words is in the public interest well then fair cop I say.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Well in Australia whistle blowers don't

Well that fucking sucks! Someone should probably get on that!

But it's not just for pollies, like if I'm before Parliament presenting something or say making a submission in favour of legalising weed or whatever and I admit to a crime I'm also protected.

Good point, hadn't thought about that. Should be immunity for "civilians" coming before Parliament, then, but still not for the politicians themselves. That would probably work..

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

The bar for proving defamation is already high enough that there's no risk of accidentally chilling honest political speech.

Not in Australia, the bar for defo is stupidly low. The defendant basically has to prove their innocence. The law is fucked and the new "public interest" defence failed its first test in court. Defamation law is abused by the rich and powerful to suppress free speech and silence critics. Even if you can successfully prove substantial truth or genuinely held opinion you'll still be ruined by all the legal costs.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Yeah Aussie defo law is basically a "are you wealthy?" test.

We don't talk about class much here but it's a super classist society. My dad for example, from a line of Irish transported, could only get out of generations of poverty because Whitlam made uni free. He ended up planning some pretty important national infrastructure (so blame him haha) that I'd say the state got a pretty good deal on given the price of a degree. My mum is a Polish immigrant and her parents, who were an agricultural scientist who refused to join the party in occupied Poland and an office admin worker (USSR leading the world on women working) were treated like fucking dirt and imbeciles because they had a strong accent and strange grammar.

If you look at the last names of people in power it's heavily slanted English. Legacy from the colony days. We had this really brief moment of good fortune and higher class mobility due to fear of communism driving social reform and since then further backsliding. I mean look at all the jobs for the boys from private schools etc and what families get admission.

Shit's fucked, but we pretend like it's all good mate and that mythical occa Anzac spirit of going hard hand in hand is all around us. Meanwhile pollies are untouchable, landlords buy up everything, and access to help and opportunity crumbles for everyone who earns less than 300k a household.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's not normally how it works. A politician can't get sued for something he says in parliament, but I've never heard of the record of what he said being inadmissible before.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Hopefully the guy appeals, the judge seems to using some tortured logic to take the governments side, claiming it's illegal for citizens to criticize politicians statements made in parliament, and that the politician would be oppressed by the citizens being able to defend himself with what the politician literally said. I'm Canadian, not Australian, and that would absolutely not fly here, parliamentary privilege is mostly to keep them from suing each other for defamation,

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

I believe they ended up settling so no chance of appeal.

Another pollie who is alledged to be a rape apologist sued some random twitter user for alleging that. This pollie, whom I affectionate title adolf kipfler, after his views and face respectively, is a very odius man. In his inaugural speech to parliament in 2001 stated that our society was sometimes "too compassionate".

Lovely bloke

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Politicians corrupt cronies fund politicians party and get that party's protection. It seems pretty obvious now that that's what happened.

It's almost literally the plot of the beekeepers If it took place in Australia and it was a shitty real estate company rather than scam call center.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Damn that's so crazy that John Barilaro firebombed Friendly Jordies house and got away with it.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago

It appears John Barrilaro might be a severely corrupt, immoral, criminal.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You might have noticed that we haven't been releasing videos after the police arrested a suspect for the firebombing of my house.While we're very grateful for their persistence throughout this ordeal, we felt it would be prudent to see what the response would be from certain individuals.

Their response has been one of rather perplexing confidence. Buoyed by the lack of further arrests they have decided to be much more blunt with their requests, threatening anyone they believe had handed over information to assist with the creation of the video Coronation.

This video detailed links former Deputy Premier John Barilaro had with development company Coronation Property.

The video encompassed more than Coronation Property associates.It included an array of spirited characters, many of whom were enraged with its release. Police have made it very clear that many of the prime suspects in the firebombing are in that video.

Now, over a year later, these figures are once again venting, threatening dire consequences if the video isn't taken down. Given these people's colourful history we don't consider these to be idle threats.

Naturally, we contacted the appropriate authorities, but it appears these men have engulfed the state in a state of fear. It appears these men are indeed above the law. It appears these men are free to point the scythe at anyone they wish, blackmail them with the most heinous, violent acts imaginable and there is not an authority in the land powerful enough, or perhaps foolhardy enough to check them.

We have done our absolute best to keep the video up. Believe me, we have. But if the content of Coronation is to fall on willfully deaf ears, if its only tangible result is the death of innocent people,we will not have their lives hang on our conscience.

In other words, you win. We're taking down the video. Congratulations. You run this city.

We were ignorant of the fact that Sydney is more or less 1920s Chicago. But now that we're fully aware, you are free to run your business without further bother from us. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The real shame in all of this, of course, is that it would have made a great story for self-proclaimed home of Australian investigative journalism Four Corners, that touts that it exists to serve the public interest. And you, of course.

It would be very interesting to hear the editorial rationale for why the paralysing grip that organised crime has over the first state didn't meet that criteria while trying to get to the bottom of why there isn't more homosexual AFL players did.

Questions for another time, perhaps.

The question for now, though, is how did these men accumulate so much power that they have incapacitated any of the so-called estates from acting on matters that question its own ascendancy?

This is not thugs killing other thugs for territory. This is unlawful punishment for reporting on the erosion of state authority.You would think that that would interest the state for self-preservation purposes if nothing else and yet it doesn't.

As such, if the policy is to let sleeping dogs lie, so be it. We can live with that. In fact, we have no choice. We have learned that there is a currency that is far more dependable than the dollar, and that's terror.

We can take solace in the fact that we did our part— more than our part. More than we will ever be able to publicly divulge. We ran out on to no man's land without any support and support never came.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is this the statement from friendlyjordies after the arrest?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

It's a copy paste from his YouTube video's description.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It'a already happening in the US too. Courts have absolved our police from actually having to do what they were hired to do. So now they wait outside of mass killings, shoot to kill innocent people, rob citizens with no consequences. Why would they bother doing their job anymore, they have guns and most people think those things just happen to "other" people.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

To be fair, police have largely been doing all of this all along with similarly paltry repercussions. The digital age just allowed citizens to collect evidence of what so many previously suspected or knew. The same bad police behavior continues, they're just forced to be a bit more honest about it now.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

NSW Police are a complete joke, if it's not strip searching minors it's just good old corruption.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It’s all cops mate, all coppers are bastards.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

Absolutely mental. Criminal gangs in bed with Australian government.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Is this a second firebombing ? I can't access YT/ western media at the moment.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

No, just the consequences of the first.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

In the event this reupload is taken down, I made a copy. Anyone need it, I'll reupload and share a link

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If I were Jordan, I'd honestly be applying for political asylum somewhere like Japan, the Philippines or the US.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Difficult to do investigative journalism from another country.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Yes, but I'd rather see him dunk on the Yu-Gi-Oh scene and other fandoms than actively risk his life. He could still do that stuff in America.

Jordan Shanks should be a national treasure and I say this as a non-Aussie. If any of the enemies he's made were to actually take his life...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I wish that stupid ‘Beekeeper’ movie was real, for all our sakes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I like Jordan. But I believe 90% of his charm is due to his Australian accent.