{"id":11915,"date":"2011-01-01T14:18:25","date_gmt":"2011-01-01T19:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/static\/?p=11915"},"modified":"2012-02-03T07:46:46","modified_gmt":"2012-02-03T12:46:46","slug":"gutsy-journalist-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/2011\/gutsy-journalist-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Gutsy journalist (Australia)"},"content":{"rendered":"

WTS.com’s “Journalist of the Year” Award<\/h4>\n

\u00b7<\/span>
\n\u2014Calvin Luther Martin, PhD<\/a><\/p>\n

The only way that democracy can be made bearable is by\u00a0developing and cherishing a class of men sufficiently honest\u00a0and disinterested to challenge the prevailing quacks.\u00a0No such class has ever appeared in strength in the United\u00a0States. Thus, the business of harassing the quacks devolves\u00a0upon the newspapers. When they fail in their duty, which\u00a0is usually, we are at the quacks’ mercy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014H. L. Mencken, “Minority Report”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two years ago I resolved to call a spade a spade. \u00a0Off came the gloves. \u00a0Screw pleasantries; this was two-fisted and bare-knuckle. \u00a0I titled it,\u00a0“How to fight the Big Wind onslaught: \u00a0A book outline in thirteen chapters<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

(To my embarrassment, it quickly became a Web sensation. \u00a0I’d wish my literary reputation to be more elegant<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Midway through, I rounded on the media.<\/p>\n

The media? Simpering assholes who have all gone with the wind. (Don\u2019t you love it when they interview the smilin\u2019 smirkin\u2019 salesman sayin\u2019 \u201cThem turbines, folks\u2014why them turbines is gonna electrify 35,000 American homes\u201d\u2014except nobody mentions it\u2019s only if the wind\u2019s blowing 25-35 mph 24\/7, 365 days a year. That\u2019s my all-time favorite line, right after \u201cDon\u2019t you worry \u2018bout them turbines and noise. No louder than a hummin\u2019 \u2018frigerator, and God\u2019s my witness!\u201d Newspaper reporters always fall for this crap. Always. Everywhere.)<\/p>\n

Second, stop expressing your concerns<\/em> at meetings. Weenie word. Your biggest rhetorical enemy in this fight is this word, concerns<\/em>. Drop it! The media loves to describe you as concerned<\/em>. (\u201cThe hens expressed some concerns<\/em> to the foxes.\u201d) Screw concerned<\/em> and start getting angry and defiant. And stop asking the windies questions and start informing them of the fact they and their goddam monster turbines and substations are not welcome in town. This is the your conversation with them: Get the hell out of Dodge!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve seen little by the media that would cause me to revise my opinion today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I said “little,” not “nothing.”<\/p>\n

When I discover someone writing in the spirit of such newspaper giants as Henry L. Mencken and Edward R. Murrow—by God I rejoice! \u00a0(Most of these job-holders are failed writers—bobbleheads for industry. \u00a0This isn’t journalism; it’s stenography.)<\/p>\n

Behold a journalist worthy of the name. \u00a0Brendan Gullifer<\/a>. \u00a0An Australian. \u00a0A novelist who’s not afraid to “muck-rake.” \u00a0(Lord knows there’s no shortage of Big Wind manure.)<\/p>\n

A man intolerant of Big Wind bullying. \u00a0(\u201cCourage is fire, bullying is smoke”—Benjamin Disraeli.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Brendan Gullifer<\/p><\/div>\n

See his latest article, “Waubra (Australia) resident on 24-hour check<\/a>.” \u00a0Just skim the article; it’s the comments I want you to notice.<\/p>\n

This is the crap this guy takes.<\/p>\n

But he keeps on—no, for God’s sake, don’t say “He keeps on ’tilting at windmills.'” \u00a0(That’s so corny you wanna scream! \u00a0That’s the cheap blather stenographers write; you, dear reader, can do better than that. \u00a0Get a grip!)<\/p>\n

I was going to say, he keeps digging and probing<\/a> and using his brain and God-given powers of reasoning and common sense, to insist on real evidence as opposed to wishful thinking and other fairy dust (see stenographers)—and takes it on the chin, as a result.<\/p>\n

Writes a correspondent from Australia: \u00a0“The Clean Energy Council (our American Wind Energy Association<\/a> equivalent) and various wind developers have been trying to intimidate him and his editor, but Gullifer has stuck to his guns. Its largely through his efforts that we are getting anywhere at all in regional Victoria.”<\/p>\n

New Year’s Day, 2011. \u00a0WindTurbineSyndrome.com<\/a> awards Brendan Gullifer its Journalist of the Year Award<\/em>!<\/p>\n

“Brendan—you gutsy Irishman!—may you flourish in the year ahead, and may you keep your courage and perseverance (and job), and may you remember that thousands around the world applaud you!”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WTS.com’s “Journalist of the Year” Award \u00b7 \u2014Calvin Luther Martin, PhD The only way that democracy can be made bearable is by\u00a0developing and cherishing a class of men sufficiently honest\u00a0and disinterested to challenge the prevailing quacks.\u00a0No such class has ever appeared in strength in the United\u00a0States. Thus, the business of harassing the quacks devolves\u00a0upon the newspapers. When they fail in their duty, which\u00a0is usually, we are at the quacks’ mercy. \u2014H. L. Mencken, “Minority Report” Two years ago I resolved to call a spade a spade. \u00a0Off came the gloves. \u00a0Screw pleasantries; this was two-fisted and bare-knuckle. \u00a0I titled it,\u00a0“How to fight the Big Wind onslaught: \u00a0A book outline in thirteen chapters.” (To my embarrassment, it quickly became a Web sensation. \u00a0I’d wish my literary reputation to be more elegant.) Midway through, I rounded on the media. The media? Simpering assholes who have all gone with the wind. (Don\u2019t you love it when they interview the smilin\u2019 smirkin\u2019 salesman sayin\u2019 \u201cThem turbines, folks\u2014why them turbines is gonna electrify 35,000 American homes\u201d\u2014except nobody mentions it\u2019s only if the wind\u2019s blowing 25-35 mph 24\/7, 365 days a year. That\u2019s my all-time favorite line, right after \u201cDon\u2019t you worry \u2018bout them turbines and noise. No louder than a hummin\u2019 \u2018frigerator, and God\u2019s my witness!\u201d Newspaper reporters always fall for this crap. Always. Everywhere.) Second, stop expressing your concerns at meetings. Weenie word. Your biggest rhetorical enemy in this fight is this word, concerns. Drop it! The media loves to describe you as concerned. (\u201cThe hens expressed some concerns to the foxes.\u201d) Screw concerned and start getting angry and defiant. And stop asking the windies questions and start informing them of the fact they and their goddam monster turbines and substations are not welcome in town. This is the your conversation with them: GetRead More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[171,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11915"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}