This is Michael Field's rebuttal to my post Michael Field: Another Blogger Who Gets it Wrong. Originally posted on his blog, then copied to two anti-government blog FijiCoup and Intelligentsiya, my copy is from Intelligentsiya, where the introduction and comment following the post also tell a tale. None of these blogsites provided a link to my posting on Field.
Michael Field Rebuttal
Even though the Fiji Coup blog has posted Mike Field's latest musings, we think the original offending piece by Croz Walshe is worthy of a blogswarm.
In this article Field is roundly rebutting a blog "independent" coup supporter, Croz Walshe.
Read and be entertained -- it is pure "Field" genius.
CLICK ON COMMENTS TO SEE RESPONSES, INCLUDING A LENGTHY ONE FROM ME.
CLICK ON COMMENTS TO SEE RESPONSES, INCLUDING A LENGTHY ONE FROM ME.
Musings on Lord Haw Haw
By Michael Field - www.michaelfield.org
6 March 2010
A blog-site with nine readers in Brazil and 36 in Singapore has attacked me.
I know this because its Master, DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey, of a Retired Kapiti Coast address, suffers such vanity that he feels the need to tell us all of who is reading his words.That he attaches the word “emeritus” to his name adequately rounds out the picture of a chap anxious not to be forgotten.
As it is, DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey’s attack on me, sponsored by the Fiji Military Council would have largely gone unnoticed. But people who sign their name, and who can be verified (in notable contrast to the Plague of Anonymous on the website in question) have suggested it might be useful if I respond. One of the reasons I am unfussed by DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey is the fact that I have long experience of the type.
White chaps telling Natives what is good for them.
Over years of reporting in the Pacific I’ve come across them more than once.
They come from obscure little places, like Palmerston North, and are mostly unnoticed. They then get a job in a Pacific Place Of Natives, and suddenly it is House Girls (of the native variety mostly) to cook the meals and as they earn tax free aid dollars, keep the new gin cabinet stacked. And of course all this from a rent free New Zealand aid funded house.
Back in Palmy they’d be drinking DB.
They are men – always men – from little places who believe that the best way to treat the Natives is to give them good old fashion discipline.
And of course they have a severe dose of the Do As I Say, Not Do As I Do, about them.
Thus, our friend DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey thinks it superb that Voreqe Bainimarama is cutting the pensions of uppity Native Pensioners who disagree with him.
Discipline, that's what them there Natives need.
Mr, err Doctor DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey also collects a pension. But unlike the Uppity Natives he also lives in a democracy where theft from pensioners is regarded as down right low.
Dr DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey spends much of his life hailing the achievements of the Little Commodore (do his house boys pay the cheques to support this little blog?), but, and here is the rub, he does not live under the regime.
No, DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey happily lives in New Zealand, feasting off the New Zealand taxpayer while berating the Uppity Fiji Natives for wanting the same kind of democracy.
Golly, DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey even gets to vote. White Man Vote. Nothing for the Pushy Natives.
And lets be clear here, what DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey is doing is something most of the people of Fiji are not allowed to do: express honest opinion.
So, let us review his Tax Payer funded Blog in which, doing Bainimarama’s bidding, he assails me – and attracts a lot of Anonymous support – err, is that Mrs DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey , or is it Frank?
In his fevered account, I am “fearless” in my coverage of the democracy movement in Tonga. This is rather silly; I just kind of think that the untitled of Tonga might have the right to vote.
Just as DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey does.
Apparently I cannot see the difference between the 1987, 2000 and 2006 coups in Fiji. This is amusing, although if you’ve backed a particular coup, as DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey plainly has, then I guess all other coups look bad. I just prefer the simple option; they were all bad.
According to the blog I have made “libellous comments on a former Fiji Attorney-General”. This is news and worthy of a separate break out report. I’ve never been sued by a Fiji Attorney-General, and never been found to have carried out a libel.
But I live in hope, one day.
Apparently my “mainstream colleagues must be embarrassed” by me.
Name one.
Oh dear, I have been harsh on Nazhat Shameem.
I have a message Mr DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey; Not by half have I been harsh – the information I have on her suggests I have been kind and forgiving.
This Gin Cabinet fellow does not like the fact that I have attacked the Military Council’s Crime Decree. He says, with all the breathlessness of a boy, that it was from a draft produced by Qarase.
So how is this acceptable?
At least Qarase was elected; the draft would have faced Parliament. The Crimes Decree is forced upon people by the gun.
Apparently, and take a gasp here, “all relevant bodies were consulted”… golly.
What about the voters?
DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey never got near a treason trial. He does not know what he is talking about.
DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey is an academic - "well-published" he tells us repeatedly - who hasn't been on the front line of anything.
He says sacking and overthrowing a constitution is the equivalent of levying an act of war.
Well, apart from this silly Kapiti retiree’s indictment of the Bainimarama regime, is he also saying that his Paymaster levied war?
I don't think he would like that?
Unlike DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey I was in the court for every day of Silatolu and Nata.
DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey was restocking.
As for his defence of the Fiji Times indoctrination session, I can barely be bothered.
This is a man who has never entered a newsroom in his life.
I know the form, I know the routine.
He does not.
Fiji's journalists, for the most part, have sold out. Certainly the management of the Fiji Times and the Fiji Sun are with the programme now. Frank's programme.
DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey says it was a “workshop”. Well, forgive me; such delicate words.
He misses the point. As he genuflects at the feet of Bainimarama, he defends the censorship and oppression of journalists.
He says “one might have thought that as a fellow journalist he would have recognized just how difficult it is for Fiji journalists to write stories in the present circumstances….”
That is because the very regime that he defends has thugs and gunmen now censoring journalists. Get it wrong, and they take you up to QEB and beat you up.
That does not happen in Kapiti Retirement Village DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey.
And he reveals that corrupt and time serving Paul Madigan was there too, sharing with journalists… the man who was supposedly objectively trying to work out whether somebody tried to assassinate Bainimarama.
Journalists did not ask about that?
Where was DipTchgMAWell,PhDMassey when the guns were being carried down Suva streets, threatening the population?
Sigh, its all too hard.
Where is the housegirl, its time for another G & T....
1 comments:
- Yes, coup sympathiser and human rights abusing regime supporter Lord Haw Haw Crosbie wants to dish it out to patriotic Fijiians but like his mate the Hitler of the Pacific dictator, spineless Haw Haw can't take it!!! Well done Mr Field, keep up your good work against this illegal regime and its gutless coup mongering supporters. Fiji will be free again one day and the good people of Fiji will get the justice they deserve against these parasites!!!
13 comments:
Haven't read the whole blog but the first statement needs a comment.
Michael Field distorts the fact straight up. By saying that Croz'z readership in Brazil is 9 and Singapore 36 - he creates the impression that Croz has a small readership.
He hid the fact that Croz has almost 7000 readership in Australia alone.
Typical of all other blogs except yours Croz.
Michael Field shows his true character by attacking the messenger.
By that blog he loses my respect. At least Croz had the decency of addressing Michael Field by his name.
Michael Field has shown his true colours.
“A blog-site with nine readers in Brazil and 36 in Singapore…”
“…[Mr Walsh] feasting off the New Zealand taxpayer…”
“…Where was [Mr Walsh] when the guns were being carried down Suva streets, threatening the population?”
The ‘Field’ genius – or rather Field ‘genius’ is to be as economical with the truth and bountiful in his hyperbole attacking Mr Walsh as he was in his report several months ago about Mr Bainimarama’s sojourn on the Esmerelda.
Mr Field’s position on the coup is quite clear, but there are so many instances where he could use his acerbic literary talent to berate the supporters, or the instigators, of the coup that there’s no need for him to be deliberately economical with the truth. This diminishes his extremely important message.
I liked his comments. Underneath the humour is a good point. Whilst I don't agree with Mr Field that all coups are essentially the same, his points about junketeering, white, patronising aid merchants has a ring of truth to it. Not necessarily at his intended target. but in general.
The South Pacific has been patronised by too many for too long.
Lets get one thing straight, even though I have said VB V Q could have been decided either way it was not. The IG is illegal. Fact.
The IG has done some good things. Fact. They have also made some fundamental errors. Fact.
Democracy is non-existent in Fiji. Fact. Democracy existed when MC won the election. Fact. It disappeared soon after. Fact.
There are some highly capable people in Fiji. Fact. There are some highly capable Fijians abroad. Fact.
There are a lot of opportunists on the aid purse. Fact. They like to be a big fish in a small pond. Fact. There are a lot of persons willing to assist Fiji who are not opportunistic and truly love Fiji. Fact.
The yaqona tanoa is never clear. Just like Fijian "democracy".
I just received a letter from my friend in a Fijian Village. They say life is 100% good. Just like every letter we have received over the years.
I am an Allen Lockington fan. He sums it up perfectly by what he does NOT say. True Fijians don't give a shit about any of this stuff. As long as their loved ones are happy and they have shelter and food, everything else is a bonus.
Not everybody wants to be a turaga.
Well, from the initial paragraphs it looks like Michael has a serious jealousy problem with the amount of followers Croz has with his writing on Fiji compared to his own. The rest is a load of drivel really, light on facts and any coherent arguments, and wasn't even funny either. What a waste of space on your blog Croz.
After reading Michael Field’s diatribe all that came to mind was the chant we used to sing as kids when someone was being really nasty. “Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me”. Why is it that some journalists seem to think that they are above the rest of us? They can be so full of their own importance that they think they know far more than anyone else - but we ordinary folk are not stupid. We ordinary folk can think for ourselves and discern between truth and lies.
To me the Michael Field diatribe read more like something from the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party or should I say G&T Party.
On 7 March 2008 Fiji's Solicitor-General Christopher Pryde complained to the NZ Broadcasting Standards Authority that comments made on RadioNZ by journalist Michael Field were "no more than an uneducated, ill–informed, deeply biased, unbalanced, and false account of recent events in Fiji". The BSA accepted that Field's comments were "inaccurate" and breached normal standards. They also found his comments to be "unbalanced" but did not accept this charge because the prgramme was an opinion piece and not a discussion, and in these circumstances lack of balance [read, bias] did not constitute a breach of BSA standards. The BSA "considered publication of this decision will serve as a reminder to commentators that they must ensure the accuracy of factual statements." It would seem from Field's totally "inaccurate" and false attack on me show they were mistaken. Click here to read the full http://www.bsa.govt.nz/decisions/2008/2008-040.htm BSA statement.
Field attacked me and not my argument, by ridicule not humour, and once again he got his facts wrong. He racially stereotyped "White chaps" working in the Pacific (hoping presumably to persuade the "natives" that he is not like the other "white chaps") and "typed" me in with them while knowing full well the vast majority of expatriates are not like those he lampooned. He attacked Nazhat Shameem by cowardly inuendo, hinting at further "information" he has on her. Put up, Michael, or shut up. And he seems to know absolutely nothing about me.I know he can no longer parachute into Fiji to check his facts, but I think he was extremely lucky not to have been more roundly chastised by the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
For Michael:
You are correct in saying you made no libellous comments on an Attorney-General. I should have said slander against a Solicitor-General but you knew full well the incident to which I referred. I never said you were sued, and you knew that too. In everything else you were "inaccurate" as the BSA so politely put it.
I do not live at a retired Kapiti Coast address or in Palmerston North. I do not attach emeritus to my name or repeatedly claim to be well published. It is you who have flaunted my academic qualifications. My blog is not, as you claim, sponsored by the Fiji Military Council, I receive no cheques from them, and it is not tax-payer funded. Contrary to what you say, I do know the routine in a newsroom. My first career was in journalism. I am not a "type" and certainly not the "type" you describe. My typical workload in Fiji exceeded 60 hours a week. My employment in Tonga, Fiji and PNG was not aid-funded. I paid tax and rent. I am not doing Bainimarama's bidding. My blog has no more anonymous comments than other blogs and, unlike your blog and most others, it allows contrary comments. I have never told "Natives what is good for them" but I do have this advice for you: note the BSA advice, get you facts right, and stop trying to win arguments, or excuse your inaccuracies, by insulting people.
@ Croz
Enjoyed your response. I don't think it was necessary, but I enjoyed it anyway.
You should never feel the need to respond to such comments. As the Proverbs say:
Rebuke a fool and he will hate you.
Rebuke a wise man and he will love you,
Prov 9: v 8
Me thinketh Mr Field protesteth too much. He is either very very stupid of very very jealous.
I don't normally go seek out blogs, but this one promised to be attractive because it was supposed to have a quality response from one who (until recent times) had a pretty solid reputation.
The pernicious piddle that Michael Field has dribbled makes me rethink a conversation I had at Auckland Airport when he was deported from Fiji.
My acquaintance said he'd lost it and had gone on an I-right-you-wrong stream for quite a while. He said MF is in dire straits looking for public credibility, so he was becoming venomously reactive and choosy. Now I know what he meant.
The depth to which MF has slided in this malicious, bitter and reactive piece makes me wonder if that happens to too many of our once-balanced media people as they slide into impotent obscurity.
I wonder what Michael Field will think of today's Fiji Sun Editorial opinion.
Thomson and Taula good signs - http://www.fijisun.com.fj/main_page/view.asp?id=35754
It appears that the NZ PM John Key is now not following Helen Clark's advice on how to "deal" with Fiji. It also appears that the NZ government is now not taking any notice of what Michael Field has to say.
Habakuk you are so right - Proverbs 9 verse 8 is so true!
We have seen on more than one occasion where noted or reputable journalist fall from grace and this dullard is no different they in fact share common attributes and that is they have lost not only their integrity but their credibility.
How can the public pardon or be trusting of such vultures.
Great response Croz. You really know how to put you thoughts and ideas into a well constructed and convincing argument. Unfortunately it does seem to be wasted in a response to MF, it just ends up being too one sided. Can't the anti-government crowd find anyone that can really go toe to toe with you? That would be something to see. So far some also-rans have tried to have a go at the champion, but all have gone away with their tails between their legs, battered and bruised. They seem to be contenders on their own well protected blogs, but when they come out into the big wide free web, you have knocked them out cold.
Come on, when will a worthy contender step up so that we can see a real title fight.
If I were to wager a guess at why, I’d say that users don’t “browse” forms. The interaction style users engage in with forms is different, and requires its own study and design best practices. This is a very interesting post, and the comments are also fantastic to read. I’ll have poses to have a little re-think about my own contact form on our new website, as this some interesting questions!
study abroad
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