I shouldn't mock other people's pain. Unless they're stupid.

AHAHAHA. Schapelle Corby, Australia's favourite drug smuggler (who is set to irrevocably damage relations between us and the Indonesians), was named after the Chappell brothers - big heroes in the cricket world.

Portly Ros [Schapelle's mum] and the beer-gutted Mike [her da] have long been estranged but they've briefly got back together for the sake of their daughter. Mike, who has cancer and a magnificent salt-and-pepper beard, has taken to visiting his daughter in prison in the Ocker-Abroad uniform of shorts, singlet and flip-flops. When someone suggested to him that he might wish to smarten up a bit out of respect for the local culture, he showed up at the jail the next day in a singlet bearing the logo of Indonesia's national beer brand, Bintang. Mike likes to shriek 'Schapelle's cummin' home, she's cummin' home,' thrusting a triumphant fist in the air as the hacks scribble away. 'How's that gunna happen, mate?' the hackpack inquire. 'In a plane, mate, in a plane,' yells back Corby, before he's whisked off. Now the hacks are perplexed. 'Was he takin' the piss?' they ask themselves.

There are no words for my extreme amusement.


(This is the part that's not funny:

Myriad petitions have been raised in Australia and a thousand 'Free Schapelle' websites created. Worse, from Canberra's point of view, there have been calls to boycott Bali and Indonesia, to withdraw aid, and to stop trade. Australia was the world's most generous donor to the tsunami relief in Aceh, but now outraged Australians are reneging on their commitment, wanting their donations back. The Salvation Army was forced to put out a statement that a recent drive for funds was for needy Australians and not Indonesia-bound.

[...]

The [Australian] reaction [to the Corby case] is deeply unhinged, and baffling to an Asia that has come to see Australia as a no-nonsense, logical country, one trying to shake off the remains of its 'White Australia' policy and engage with their region on its own terms. But that's not how it is.

)

All quotes from here.

Pondering.

The whole of LJ seems to be up in arms about the fact that OJ MJ wasn't convicted, which I think is kinda dumb. We weren't there, we don't know what evidence was presented. All that verdict means was there was reasonable doubt he may not have done it. Innocent until proven guilty, guys. Last I checked you had that too (unlike pre-revolutionary France).

Besides, it reminds me a bit of Eddie Izzard's sketch on house arrest: "Don't go in that fuckin' house". It's not like every mother in America doesn't know what he looks like, and that he's a creepy bastard. JUST KEEP THE CHILDREN AWAY FROM HIM. Jeez. It's not that hard. It's like that saying: It takes a whole village, yadda yadda.