Monday, January 07, 2008

SAME STORY WRONG MESSAGE

Associated Press Writer Ibrahim Barzak always puts an interesting spin on the pieces that he writes. In Israeli fuel cuts force Gaza blackouts he opens with news of a warning by Gaza's top energy official that "Gazans will be forced to live without lights and electric heaters for eight hours a day because Israel has cut fuel supplies to the territory's only electric plant in half." Of course, the real reason why this may happen is because the Hamas controlled leadership in Gaza is doing nothing to prevent daily rocket attacks on southern Israel. That's the real message behind the cutbacks.

Still, Barzak's effort is somewhat more illuminating that those of Fairfax resident Gaza person Ed O'Loughlin. I came across this recent piece in the Brisbane Times from him - Transport grinding to a halt under Israeli siege. The Times has such a miniscule readership that there seems to be no demand for it with newsagents on both the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast which are situated less than 100 kilometres from the Queensland capital. It is however, apparently part of the Fairfax stable so he was permitted to make an ass of himself to a small cross section of Brisbanites whose fish and chips come wrapped in the hard to find newspaper.

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