Wingnuts ahoy!

A photo essay describing the wingnuts and fruitloops that I encountered today. Just remember that when the photos are uploaded, blogger puts a compressed version into the blog. If you want to see each photo in all its glory, you have to click on it and it should open in a new window. Or tab.

Years ago, I would have described most of these people as "zipper-heads". Why did such a wonderful expression fall out of fashion?

Note the guy on the left - I will write about him later. He was there to interview people who were attending. He cut my interview short. Wanker.



There was one sign I didn't manage to photograph properly. I got home and found that the goose carrying it had turned it side on as I snapped the shutter. But I do remember it saying, "Invite Chavez, not Bush".

If Saddam was still unhung, would they be saying, "Invite Saddam, not Bush"? Probably.

"APEC = corporate plunder."

Hmm. How do you work that one out? I'm afraid it might take more than 3 words on a placard to explain that to stupid old me. Maybe I should read the fine print at the bottom of the placard?



"21 world leaders. 1 caged city."

Well, given that I rode all over the city today, apart from the relatively small area that was fenced off, I would have to take issue with that statement. Sounds like a bit of exaggeration to me.

Also, how do you define 'city'? Are you just talking about the CBD, or do you include the City of Sydney (which thanks to council amalgamations is now quite extensive) or the entire metropolitan area? Surely the inhabitants of far-flung Campbelltown have not been fenced off as well? (Although I would like to see that happen one day).



"Even Putin signed Kyoto. How embarassing".

Yes, how embarassing for him that he was suckered into signing.

And just check out the shit-eating grin on the woman on the left.



"Socialist Alliance". It figures.



The red T-shirt says "The govt lies".

Yes, especially when it says, "I'm from the government, and I am here to help you".



I'm not sure what the banner reads, but it is big and orange.



How funny! A man dressed as a nun! Hilarious!



This is the start of the great "We want our banner on TV" fight between two groups.

These youngsters are standing behind a Sky TV reporter who was doing a live cross.



Here is the Sky guy and his cameraman. Notice the very snappy tent extension coming off the side of their 4WD. I want one of these for my 4WD.



I was wrong the other day about the poofs not being invited. These three had their banner, and they wanted it seen on TV as well.

Note the person of indeterminate sex on the far right. I am sure it was a chick, but it had a longer beard than me (when you got up close).



So the poofs moved up behind the young kids and tried to take their airspace and some nasty looks were exchanged.

I just noticed that the way the banner is folded, it reads "Stop the war clit".

Make of that what you will.



Are there unwritten protocols regarding fair and unfair use of banners at protest rallies?

This next photo shows two great placards and a very silly haircut. Just how does Western Mining corrupt John Howard? If they have an inside track as this sign suggests, I think I will buy some WMC shares on Monday when the market opens. Thanks for the tip guys!



This guy really takes the cake. At first I thought he was some kind of official photographer, thanks to the yellow vest and camera with large lens, but then I noticed that he is actually wearing an inflatable vest - the kind that airlines hand out when your plane belly flops into the ocean. He has gone onto my shortlist of "complete floggers that I saw today".



And here is our whacko friend again with some friends of "loose change". I know that the rally was being held next to the Hyde Park fountain, but I doubt there was much risk of anyone falling in and drowning.

Anyway - to these T-shirts:

"Corporations cold turn you to stone before you realise", and then the loose change bit down the bottom.

I think it is supposed to say "could" instead of "cold", but I guess that just proves that she is a product of our state school system.

Or she is a school teacher.



Funny little face masks were popular with some people. Maybe that was a protest against chemical weapons? Funny how the protests are directed generally against the US, and not those that have actually used them (although there is not much protesting against Saddam anymore is there?)




No rally would be complete without lesbians with whistles.

The sign behind says "The right to strike is a human right", published by Socialist Alliance.

Hmmm, I am more fond of the basic human rights like the right to own property, the right to a trial by jury and that sort of thing. Striking as a right is not high on my agenda.



This twat looked like he was out to cause trouble. One look at him and I thought, "He's on speed". He was walking quickly, looked agitated and had the whole hood and face mask on.

The mask by the way has a nice badge on it that was a swastika in the background with John Howard's face over the top. I gave him a Nazi salute and a "Heil Hitler" as he walked by. He just gave me a dirty look in return.



"US bases out of Asia and Pacific".

Why do we need an 'and' in between 'Asia' and 'Pacific'? I thought the common usage these days was just to say 'Asia Pacific'.

Clearly someone that is in love with using the word 'and'.

And another thing,.... I forget. No wait - maybe another school teacher?



Is that a tofu burger you are eating? I don't really care, but I do want to know what the small stuffed toy poking out of your jacket means.



A plethora of TV trucks. Note that they are all 4WD's of one sort or another.



No rally is complete without street theatre and a man blowing bubbles. The arm on the left is holding a bubble blowing contraption. I want one.



This couple seemed to be embracing like it was the end of the world. I think she was all overcome with the sheer emotion of the day.

Pfft.



And then there was balloon man, who looked like a giant blob of fish spoof (I mean caviar) and some bloke in head-to-toe red tights and a wierd woman in an 'unfuck the world' shirt. I am not sure that this bloke is trying to be caviar. If he is, where is the slice of lemon and the blob of creme fraiche?

Like I said, where would we be without street theatre.



Ah, retired school teachers. Where would we be without them?



Manboobs! He has bigger boobs than she has! I am not kidding - they don't come out that well in the photo, but they were jiggling quite amazingly when he walked past. Mate, get a manbra.



Socialism in action. Well, capitalism actually. The guy in red is 'selling' newspapers, if that is how you define exchanging a socialist rag for dole money.

Imagine that - a heresy! Actually selling something at a rally like this in order to make a profit! I am sure I saw a sign somewhere in this group that said "greed kills".

Capitalists like this guy should be railroaded out of town on an organically grown, untreated pine log.



Note the aboriginal flag on the far right (it is almost rolled up). It was of course being carried by a bloke that looked 100% Chinese.



Didn't the aboriginals used to call the Chinese "white pork"?

Just a small selection of the police that were mobilised to line the route. For out-of-towners, note that the Cenotaph is just up the embankment behind the black 4WD on the left. I am so glad this shower of shit were kept well away from it.

Note the sign which reads "If I live in a democracy, why am I silenced in a police state?"

The holder of that sign should be beaten around the head with it until they see that they are talking crap. Or signing crap. Whatever.



A close up of the sign in question.

Also check out the tool on the right with "normal looking person" written on the back of his suit jacket. I take it that is some sort of dig at people that wear suits to work. ie, capitalist pigs. Or he is just a dick. I think he is just a dick.



The ABC van. OK, so it is not a 4WD. But it did have the engine running the whole time (and I even took video to prove it). The Channel 7 van had its engine turned off.

The ABC also had the door of their van open, so I guess they had the engine running to run the air conditioning, and the air conditioning had to work extra hard to keep the van cool due to the open door. Oh, those gaia cooking gases! Think of the polar bears!



The black sign on the left reads "Stop Bush, Free Palestine, Stop Genocide in Iraq".

Hmm.



Since this blog is supposed to be about cycling, here is the police peleton going past the park.

They ride like girls.


Want to play "Guess which flag this is"?



"278,000 Iraq civilian killed by Bushs war Murderers inside the fence".

I think some people might have an issue with the use, or lack thereof, of an apostrophe here.

Also, 278,000 is a very exact number. Is it precisely half what Lancet used? Maybe not. Where did this number come from? I think this was the number of Moonies married in a ceremony in South Korea last week.



There always has to be someone that wants to blame it all on Jewistan.



"Don't attack Iran".

Why not?



It's all about the T-shirt. I presume "PSA" stands for some sort of public sector union.

What is it with chicks and bum-covers? Why do they need to take an article of clothing with them that serves no purpose except to be tied around the waist to cover the bum?



"Video survellance in use on everyone".

You got that right mate. The organisers were running around video taping everyone that turned up. Worse than ASIO if you ask me.



I was ignoring the speeches at one point and was watching the road beside Hyde Park instead. A black limo went past, with three motorbikes as outriders. Instead of being BMW tourer type bikes, they were offroad bikes - and bright yellow at that. I took one look at the procession and figured that the Chaser mob were out having another go at pulling a prank - this time with motorbikes that no one would mistake for police bikes.

Then I rode up behind these guys, and noticed that they were wearing utility belts, had guns and radios, and were the real deal. One phone call later, I found out that the bikes only cost about $8500, whilst the boots cost $750 - nearly 10% of the cost of the bike. I did notice that these guys were wearing very groovy boots, which initially made me think that they were a joke. How wrong can you be?



Another pic of a line of police. Lots of police.



The woman carrying this sign was nice enough to stop and pose for me when the first photo that I took of her did not work out.

I am keeping this photo as a reminder as to why I will be voting for JWH again. He might be a prick, but he's not a dick.



The final photo in this series - I was almost out of the park when this woman came up behind me and started talking to herself. Well, I thought she was talking to herself, but it turned out that the lady that she was talking to was some distance away.

Her comments were along the lines of "We have the most disgraceful police in this state - absolutely disgraceful. Their behaviour was disgraceful".



Yep, absolutely terrible. I can't for the life of me figure out why they just stood there and didn't draw batons and chase these poo-bags into the harbour. If disgraceful behaviour is putting up with fat old nutjobs like her, then they must have been doing something right.