Kudos to Channel Nine in Brisbane. A 25 year veteran employee has been allowed to resign and three reporters were fired for their involvement in filing news reports regarding a police search of remote rugged terrain when the news helicopter was actually in the air near the station's headquarters and sitting on the station's helipad in another incident.
The reports related to developments in a massive forensic search for evidence relating to the murder of a young lad abducted in 2003 at age 13. Normally Australian law would not allow the naming of the arrested murder suspect since he had been a witness at a prior coroner's inquest but the court has lifted the restriction on publishing his name in order to aid the ongoing investigation.
Revised and extended comments:
The Courier Mail reports that the Nine and Seven channels have been rivals locked in a five year struggle for ratings and that Choppergate started when some Seven personnel who were aviation enthusiasts noticed the helicopter was orbiting their neighborhood but no major story was then taking place locally. Channel Seven decided to monitor the actual location of Channel Nine's helicopter and twice caught the Nine Channel switch "live" to the reporters in a helicopter that was described as being over the scene of the Daniel Morcombe forensic search when it clearly was not anywhere near it at or about that time.
The Courier Mail reports that the 25 year veteran who fell on his sword was actually pushed. We never really had much doubt about that.
It seems a Channel Nine employee had twittered that "they would be "LIVE from Beerwah with the latest at 6. Just after 6pm, seemingly true to their word, Nine crossed "live" to young reporter Melissa Mallet hovering "near Beerwah" where police were hunting for the body of the murdered teenager..."
The Courier Mail reported that Channel Nine initially claimed air traffic controllers had ordered the chopper to land due to bad weather and the producer had not been promptly informed of this.
"Management in Sydney were notified and an on-air apology was issued. Following a series of closed-door meetings the axe fell for Price, Mallett and producer Aaron Wakeley at about 6.30pm. Nine news director Lee Anderson promptly fell on his sword."
..........
There are now reports that the three reporters have taken to Twitter to present an alternative viewpoint about a tempest in a tea pot.
.........
Audience reaction: It seems the viewing audience has had an initial reaction. Channel Nine lost an average of 1,000 viewers whereas Channel Seven which had exposed the situation lost an average of 15,000 viewers as all Brisbane stations combined lost a total of 30,000 viewers, as reported in news.com.au. Of course the dip in viewership may have been due solely to the public's "burnout" over what may have been viewed as excessive coverage of the Morcombe forensic search and the Slacks Creek fire.
Addendum: Mellisa Mallet sacked by Channel Nine due to the investigative actions of Channel Seven has now been hired by Channel Seven.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Following some links in the wee hours of the morning.
Sometimes we see a headline and promptly click on a link. Sometimes we see the headline and are hesitant to read the story despite the headline being fascinating.
I just saw a headline about a millionaire making a fortune selling virtual land and virtual fashions.
The world has changed and I simply refuse to click on that link and read the story. People selling real land are often struggling financially whereas people selling non-existent land are doing well.
Strange. Too strange to contemplate.
I just saw a headline about a millionaire making a fortune selling virtual land and virtual fashions.
The world has changed and I simply refuse to click on that link and read the story. People selling real land are often struggling financially whereas people selling non-existent land are doing well.
Strange. Too strange to contemplate.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Boonton shooting: Who Are The Foreigners?
Who are the foreigners? Who are the idiots?
In a developing case involving people in Brooklyn, NY, Boonton, NJ and Billerica, MA, its hard to discern who played what role.
The shooting took place when the husband and wife went for a stroll near the NJ home of the wife's relatives who are on welfare in Boonton. The husband received four minor bullet wounds, the wife received a fatal bullet wound. Obviously police were quite suspicious about an attack supposedly carried out by three assailants supposedly yelling epithets about terrorists yet unable to seriously wound the male while being able to kill the wife. What such a team of attackers would be doing lurking in a residential neighborhood until this particular couple wandered by seemed strange also.
It seems the wife and her family knew from the start that the Brooklyn raised man of Pakistani heritage was a liar. He lied about his educational achievements and met the wife's family at a Dunkin' Donuts establishment yet there was a very prompt marriage that lasted for six years and produced two children. During the marriage the wife apparently expressed fears of her husband's violent tendencies and homicidal potential but made no attempt to leave the marriage.
The husband had at least two extra marital affairs and the wife had discovered some internet page featuring her husband and other women. Apparently the husband was taking some court ordered anger management classes and the wife feared his violence and suspected an attempt on her life, but took absolutely no evasive or protective measures.
A recent relocation by the husband to East Boston was supposedly so the husband could attend Harvard, an unlikely educational endeavor for someone of his intellect and unlikely for anyone choosing to live in the very geographically inconvenient, East Boston area. Apparently the wife and the wife's family had long tolerated his rather obvious lies.
A traffic camera caught a darkened vehicle fleeing the scene of the shooting and said vehicle may be the car owned by the mother of the Boston area mistress. Text messages between the mistress and the husband show the husband had planned the location and timing of the event and that he trusted the mistress to shoot him several times but not seriously injure him.
Its strange. It was a voluntary marriage, not an arranged one. The wife remained in the relationship despite the infidelity and violence. The husband was clearly a suspect almost right from the start since an attack by three men of different heritage taking place on a quiet residential street seemed absurd. The participants had some fears about cell phone evidence but text messages clearly show a murder plot. The husband was a long time resident of the USA so it seems it was not a cultural values related murder situation, yet there appears little reason for the wife to have stayed in such a vulnerable situation.
No information regarding insurance is available at this time, however, the husband was in the process of receiving two million dollars from the sale of a nine million dollar real estate transaction involving property owned by an older gay man with whom the husband had a lengthy relationship of an unspecified nature.
It seems absurd how either the Massachusetts mistress or the husband of Pakistani heritage could possibly have considered the police would fall for the story. Three men yelling about terrorists and apparently attacking the strolling couple on a quiet residential street? Also three such disparate men? What were they doing together. The mistress is a clerk at a Best Buy store and does not seem all that bright but she did plan her activities by borrowing a car and using a cell phone cautiously as well as determining the response time of the police vehicles. She also it seems was sensible enough to get paid in advance although the amount of the money that was deposited by the husband in her account has not been revealed. It has not been shown if the actual shooter knew of the two million dollar real estate interest.
Ofcourse, the aftermath of all this is custody of the two minor children who were the issue of the marriage. Watch everyone start using words such as piety and cultural values soon. At least two mistresses and a decade long relationship with an older, wealthy homosexual male. Piety? Cultural values? Welfare?
In a developing case involving people in Brooklyn, NY, Boonton, NJ and Billerica, MA, its hard to discern who played what role.
The shooting took place when the husband and wife went for a stroll near the NJ home of the wife's relatives who are on welfare in Boonton. The husband received four minor bullet wounds, the wife received a fatal bullet wound. Obviously police were quite suspicious about an attack supposedly carried out by three assailants supposedly yelling epithets about terrorists yet unable to seriously wound the male while being able to kill the wife. What such a team of attackers would be doing lurking in a residential neighborhood until this particular couple wandered by seemed strange also.
It seems the wife and her family knew from the start that the Brooklyn raised man of Pakistani heritage was a liar. He lied about his educational achievements and met the wife's family at a Dunkin' Donuts establishment yet there was a very prompt marriage that lasted for six years and produced two children. During the marriage the wife apparently expressed fears of her husband's violent tendencies and homicidal potential but made no attempt to leave the marriage.
The husband had at least two extra marital affairs and the wife had discovered some internet page featuring her husband and other women. Apparently the husband was taking some court ordered anger management classes and the wife feared his violence and suspected an attempt on her life, but took absolutely no evasive or protective measures.
A recent relocation by the husband to East Boston was supposedly so the husband could attend Harvard, an unlikely educational endeavor for someone of his intellect and unlikely for anyone choosing to live in the very geographically inconvenient, East Boston area. Apparently the wife and the wife's family had long tolerated his rather obvious lies.
A traffic camera caught a darkened vehicle fleeing the scene of the shooting and said vehicle may be the car owned by the mother of the Boston area mistress. Text messages between the mistress and the husband show the husband had planned the location and timing of the event and that he trusted the mistress to shoot him several times but not seriously injure him.
Its strange. It was a voluntary marriage, not an arranged one. The wife remained in the relationship despite the infidelity and violence. The husband was clearly a suspect almost right from the start since an attack by three men of different heritage taking place on a quiet residential street seemed absurd. The participants had some fears about cell phone evidence but text messages clearly show a murder plot. The husband was a long time resident of the USA so it seems it was not a cultural values related murder situation, yet there appears little reason for the wife to have stayed in such a vulnerable situation.
No information regarding insurance is available at this time, however, the husband was in the process of receiving two million dollars from the sale of a nine million dollar real estate transaction involving property owned by an older gay man with whom the husband had a lengthy relationship of an unspecified nature.
It seems absurd how either the Massachusetts mistress or the husband of Pakistani heritage could possibly have considered the police would fall for the story. Three men yelling about terrorists and apparently attacking the strolling couple on a quiet residential street? Also three such disparate men? What were they doing together. The mistress is a clerk at a Best Buy store and does not seem all that bright but she did plan her activities by borrowing a car and using a cell phone cautiously as well as determining the response time of the police vehicles. She also it seems was sensible enough to get paid in advance although the amount of the money that was deposited by the husband in her account has not been revealed. It has not been shown if the actual shooter knew of the two million dollar real estate interest.
Ofcourse, the aftermath of all this is custody of the two minor children who were the issue of the marriage. Watch everyone start using words such as piety and cultural values soon. At least two mistresses and a decade long relationship with an older, wealthy homosexual male. Piety? Cultural values? Welfare?
Monday, August 1, 2011
Refresh Rate Programming Error
Okay folks. Here is a lesson in how we learn from our past mistakes.
Decades ago programmers made a dangerous and often fatal "refresh rate" error in programming the control system for a powerful machine that aimed x-rays at a patient's tumors. It took a long time to discover the error and a long time to correct it.
A refresh rate error was detected at a dealerless electronic roulette game and players were making some really good money at a variety of casinos but when the casinos got suspicious the game was shut down and the programmer error detected promptly and corrected promptly.
Decades ago programmers made a dangerous and often fatal "refresh rate" error in programming the control system for a powerful machine that aimed x-rays at a patient's tumors. It took a long time to discover the error and a long time to correct it.
A refresh rate error was detected at a dealerless electronic roulette game and players were making some really good money at a variety of casinos but when the casinos got suspicious the game was shut down and the programmer error detected promptly and corrected promptly.
Dateline August 5th 2011 Ryan Ferguson case.
A two-hour Dateline special on Friday August 5, 2011, entitled The Mystery of Halloween Night will cover the Ryan Ferguson case wherein an 18 year old slightly built youth was convicted of murdering a 300 pound athletic sports editor during a lengthy fight based on the dreams of an alcoholic drug addicted schizophrenic.
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