GrodsCorp’s favourite über-freak, Prodos, has a long history (scroll to point five) of being hostile towards those who hold opposing views, despite his oft-repeated claim of being “objective” and “constructive”. For somebody who is so apparently committed to rational debate, our Prodos can only tolerate his own way of thinking. For once I am in complete agreement with Dr (sic) John ‘TingTong’ Ray who said of Prodos: “[his] ego has run away with him. He thinks that his own approach is the only defensible one.”

The latest self-aggrandising project to spew forth from Prodos’ ego is the objective and constructive Are You A Moron? project, which requires you to answer “yes” if you believe in any of the following:

• Global warming
• Scientific consensus
• That the debate is over
• Renewable energy
• Taxing carbon
• Green jobs
• the idea CO2 is a pollutant

As is the way with all of Prodos’ projects (Privatize The ABC, Celebrate Capitalism, Thinker To Thinker, I Love Prodos etc.) he seems to be more interested in the pithy slogans, domain names and merchandise than he does in the issue. This particular project boasts at least four domain names (areyouamoron.com, greenpoppycock.com, carbondioxideisnotapollutant.com and greensliepeopledie.com) — conservative estimates put the total number of domain names owned by Prodos at over 9000 — a blog with links to stuff other people wrote, and a massive range of stupid merchandise like this:

Someone needs to proof read Prodos’ slogans for grammar before he prints them

Now all he needs is a matching song, perhaps along the lines of this one he wrote about Teh Moooooooslems.

On the bottom shelf of my bookshelf, out of the sight of all but the most determined visitors, is a copy of Battlefield Earth — the completely fictional nonsense dreamed up by L. Ron Hubbard that functions as Scientology’s defacto Bible. I borrowed it from a friend some years ago (why he had it I have no idea) so I could see what the hell it was all about, got to page three and could read no further due to the utter turgidity of the prose, and put it back on the bottom shelf where it’s remained ever since.

Problem is, a few people have pointed at it while browsing the library and issued a “please explain”. I try to tell the story, that it’s not really mine, and that I haven’t read it, but the damage is done. Here is Malcolm Turnbull trying similarly to distance himself from Ayn Rand in the wake of Young Liberals declaring their fondness for the author:

INTERVIEWER: Is there any Ayn Rand on the shelves of the Turnbull study?

MALCOLM TURNBULL: There is an old tattered copy of Atlas Shrugged. I haven’t read if for a long time.

Statements like that make baby Prodos cry.

UPDATE: After notching up a grand FAIL with the title of Hubbard’s book (I originally typed “Battlestar Eath” instead of “Battlefield Earth”), I realise how Iucky I am that I wasn’t trying to type the name of the book’s companion soundtrack: Space Jazz. Imagine the typo opportunities there.

The Young Liberals, in their membership drive, have made their target clear.

Carn git me, Prodos!

UPDATE: In case the Prodos link isn’t clear enough, here’s the header of his blog.

I don’t know how I missed this, but Prodos has started a competition to win a weekly cash prize of five dollars! All you need to do is start a free Thinker To Thinker blog (unless you “hate capitalism”, in which case you can “bugger off”) and use some of Prodos’ favourite quotes in your posts.

Over the next week write 3 posts on your TTT blog – each of which includes at least one quote from any of these “Big Seven” Thinkers:

* Aristotle
* John Locke
* Adam Smith
* Thomas Jefferson
* Frederic Bastiat
* Ludwig von Mises
* Ayn Rand

But it’s only $5, I hear you say. Prodos reckons $5 can buy you heaps.

Q: What can I buy with five dollars?
A: Glory

Glory. I has it.

About a month ago I (along with many other bloggers) received an email from some guy named James from some PR agency called zing (all in funky lower case.) James, or “Jay” as he oh-so-funkilly calls himself, asked me (well, he actually asked somebody called “Dan”, since the first post on Grods at the time was this one) for my “open and honest” feedback on a new ad campaign for an energy drink called Mother, owned by Coca Cola.

Hey Dan,

Your open and honest feedback will contribute to our success so we’re hoping you would tell us what you thing (sic) of our new commercial – check it out here _http://mother.socialmediarelease.com.au/

Oh, and if you’re interested in bouncing off the walls in 2009, please shoot over your best mailing address and I’ll ship you out another energy boost of new Mother.

Cheers,
Jay

–
James Levy | Senior Account Executive
zing

Now, it was obviously a stupid viral marketing campaign with a crate of energy drink as the sweetener for bloggers in exchange for a plug on their sites, but who am I to turn down free shit? So I emailed Jay with Spykey’s address.

Hi James,

Would love to try some Mother! I’ll check out the ad as well.

My address is:
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cheers,
Dan

Jay sent back a cryptic reply, telling me that he’d put some Mother on a courier or something. Bizarre.

Hey Dan,

Not a problem buddy. I have put a case on a courier for you.

Have a nice day,
Jay

Now I don’t know what the campaign ad looks like, and I don’t know if the courier was upset about having cans of drink dropped on him, but I do know that Spykey was a little bit shocked when some guy carrying a case of energy drink showed up on her doorstep looking for “Dan”. Anyway, I gots me some free stuff.

Twelve litres of gross

The case has been sitting on Spykey’s floor for a while, with only a few cans being consumed by her cousin and her bandmates. But after staring at it for three weeks I got a case of the guilts about not giving GrodsReaders my “open and honest” feedback on the product in exchange for the freebie, so I asked Spykey’s cousin to write a review and got this back:

Unlike the all controlling protocol computer in Alien, this Mother has your wellbeing in mind. It re-juvinates, re-vitalises and has double the energy boost in a manly-size 500ml can. Tastes nothing like the Old Mother…

But I didn’t really think it was enough so I looked to Prodos for inspiration. You see, some years ago Prodos did a podcast about how Coca Cola represents everything good and great about capitalism, freedom and the Western world. There’s this beautifully awful section where Prodos, along with guests Wolfgang Kasper and some PR chick from Coca Cola, opens a bottle of Coke and analysis the sound, smell and feel of it. Here’s the segment for your enjoyment:

Inspired, I decided to record my own audio review of Mother:

Conscience clear.

GrodsCorp’s favourite freak, Prodos, has taken to inflicting capitalist crosswords upon his handful of reluctant supporters at weekly Discover Capitalism meetings.

Krazy kapitalists enjoying Ayn Rand and pizza.

Prodos has kindly made that meeting’s crossword available as a PDF download so us ordinary punters can have a crack. I decided to give it a go but got stuck on one-across.

The crossword is clearly broken

Try it for yourself, email Prodos for the answers, and if you are successful you too might win an awesome prize like this brainy capitalist did on the night of the meeting.

“Just what I’ve always wanted: a capitalist matchbox car!”

Sophie Mirabella’s baby is not a demon.

Uncle Prodos never misses an opportunity to spruik his t-shirts

Earlier in the week GrodsCorp revealed that Sophie Mirabella had been awarded this year’s highly sought Capitalist of the Year award by Richmond’s most dedicated capitalist, Prodos. The ceremony will be held this Sunday and Ms Mirabella’s duties in Canberra will prevent her from attending so Prodos has attempted to console the disappointed hordes with a recorded phone interview.

The podcast begins with an introduction from Prodos’ wife (Sydney) on a phone in the other room.

Objective. Constructive. Creative. Welcome to Prodos Worldwide on the Solid Vox network. Discover the power of ideas at solidvox dot com. Ladies and gentlemen, we now cross to Melbourne, Australia…

(She actually means the next room in the house.)

…to bring you the solid vox with the biggest, the brainiest, the baaaadest, blockbusting, podcasting, powerhouse presenter (sharp intake of breath) on the planet (gasp for air). Kapow! Heeeeeeere’s Prodos!

It just goes even further downhill from there. After a stumbling intro from Prodos and a live read/sing of an “advertisement” (which was really some Ayn Rand propaganda and a plug for iloveprodos.com) from Sydney, Prodos finally introduces Sophie Mirabella. Here’s the topics he discusses with her.

Topics covered included…

* Why be a politician? To give a voice to the majority – who are under-represented and treated with contempt by the ruling left-wing elites.
* Journalists see themselves – and are significant players, influencing public debate. But overwhelmingly from a left-wing, collectivist position.
* Sophie Mirabella’s passion for policy development.
* How does a politician win votes and stay in power whilst not wrecking the country?
* The problem with bureaucratic advice, politicians absolving themselves or responsibility for consequences of bad policies. Politicians can lack the intellect to grasp policy consequences. Then there are the usual human flaws and failings.
* Corrupt politicians can last for ages, yet one who makes an innocent error is taken to the cleaners.
* Sophie has copped flak from the media, mainly because of ideological differences.
* Press gallery in Canberra as an “in club” who consider themselves participants (activists), not just reporters.
* Journalists bred by leftie/collectivist Universities.
* Lack of diversity of opinion across the media and academia.Media busily pushes left-wing barrows rather than examining facts.
* Sophie comments on her boycotting of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s fraudulent Sorry Day event. Why didn’t more Liberal and National Party members join in?
* Predicts disastrous future effects on Australian Aborigines of the Rudd “Apology”.
* Issues: Anthropogenic Global Warming? The science is NOT settled. AGW, as a hysteria that’s taken on a life of its own. There are politicians on both who actually do not accept AGW, but go along with it, anyway. Scientists with alternative views being ignored.
* Issues: Carbon Tax, Carbon Emissions Trading: They stem from very flawed premises. Implementation will have adverse effects on economy and on industries. Sophie says of Emissions Trading: “It’s not something I would have instituted,” but believes it will now happen, and that she can not prevent it.
* Issues: The American alliance. America as the leader of the Free World. Most significant cornerstone of Australia’s foreign policy. Australia is a key ally. Despite Labor’s anti-American ranting and raving, they end up supporting the American Alliance. We are in the midst of a worldwide clash of cultures. United by a common hate – the United States – the left aligns itself with the “Islamo-fascists.”
* Disturbed by anti-Americanism amongst today’s youth.
* America’s great tradition of vigorous debate continues and is one of the most exciting aspects of America, in Sophie’s personal experience. Praise for American think tanks. When it comes to debate and discussion, no other nation compares to the USA. America stands out.
* Regarding Australian think tanks, Sophie Mirabella says there is “extraordinary room for improvement.”
* Issues: Israel. Strong supporter. Considers Israel a speck of light amongst the darkness. Israel as a very convenient whipping horse. The depth and scope of debate that occurs within Israel, isn’t found in neighboring states.
* Recommended reading and favorite political leaders. Ayn Rand, a favorite. Also: John Stuart Mill, Thomas Paine, Milton Friedman. Politicians: Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
* There are no heroes in politics.
* The shunning of non socialist or communist thinkers at University when Sophie was a student and activist.
* Issues: Flat tax? Supports a flatter taxer system. People are better able to decide how to spend their money, than government is.
* For limited, smaller government.
* Receiving the Melbourne Capitalism Award™ 2008 by Sydney Kendall.

Listen if you dare.

Each year in the lead up to the glorious International Capitalism Day (this coming Sunday, 1 June), everyday Australians and proud capitalists around the world wait anxiously for the announcement of the recipient of Prodos‘ Melbourne Capitalism Award. Previous winners include the Pentecostal Church minister, Danny Nalliah, who was charged with racial vilification (charges were later dropped), and figures from the Institute of Public Affairs, The H.R. Nicholls Society, and Brookes News. But this year Prodos has selected a Liberal politician who inspires Australians around the country and fights tirelessly for the rights of capitalists under this socialist Labor regime. Ladies and gentlemans, put your hands together for… Sophie Mirabella!

Melbourne’s Capitalist of the Year sitting on the right chair

If you — like me — can’t contain your excitement about Ms Mirabella’s amazing achievement you might like to pop along to the grand ceremony in an even grander venue planned this weekend to celebrate Sophie and capitalism.

We will be meeting for dining, drinking and general festivities at:

Venue: Don Mateos cafe restaurant
406 Bridge Road, Richmond
(next door to The Passion Fruit, opposite Reece Hardware)

Time: Starting at around 6.30 PM.

Unfortunately I’m busy (vacuuming the curtains) but if you manage to get there take some photos for us, will you?

1) Matching words with action… sort of
Victorian Premier John Brumby on Friday addressed a climate change summit and called climate change the “defining issue of our era.” We’ve heard this kind of crisis talk from Brumby and others for quite some time now but it’s very rarely matched with concrete action. On Friday Brumby pledged an extra $72 million for renewable energy projects, but in terms of the government’s overall expenditure, and the scope of the problem as declared by Brumby, $72 million is a drop in the bucket. Signing a “memorandum of understanding” with a Bill Clinton climate change foundation means nothing. Announcing that Parliament House will now be powered by green energy at a cost of $90,000 per year just makes me ask why it wasn’t already. Time for Brumby to stop talking and start doing.

2) More Prodos audio goodness
You’ve probably heard about racial vilification but have you ever heard about carbon vilification? Listen (if you can stand it) to Prodos‘ podcast interview with a svelte looking fellow from the Carbon Sense Coalition. You see, carbon is not a pollutant because we’re all made of carbon and it triggers our impulse to breathe.

3) David Oldfield throws gauntlet
Is 2GB’s overnight presenter David Oldfield (ex-One Nation royalty) so desperate for program content that he issues invitations to appear on his show to any blogger that gives him shit? Broken Left Leg questioned Oldfield’s claim that he is “A nationally successful sportsperson” and immediately received comments from Oldfield’s wife, Lisa, defending David’s sporting background. After a bit more comment argy bargy Lisa Oldfield extended a formal invitation for BLL and other commenters to appear on David’s show.

David would like to extend you and your reader, a forum for you to explain your manifesto in a fair environment with equal air time, so if you are up for it, would you like to join David in the studio ? Name the day, to discuss any topics, of your choosing, that are of concern.

Kind regards,

Lisa Oldfield.

So will Broken Left Leg go on the show? And will he post the audio for us all to hear?

Ain’t wage rises funny? In January my own salary went up by 4 per cent. Nurses last year won a base increase of 3.25 per cent. Victorian teachers want 10 per cent but although they’re poking John Brumby in the arse with a sharp stick, it doesn’t look like they’ll get more than 3.5-4 per cent. Meanwhile, those on the minimum wage must’ve danced in the street last July: they scored between 1 and 1.9 per cent, or $5-10 a week. And the goose who came up with that last figure?

Fair Pay Commissioner Ian Harper – who works for the Federal Government advising on pay standards in addition to private business interests - got a $38,000 pay rise while he considered the plight of the nation’s minimum wage workers last year and decided to award them just $10 extra a week.

Prof Harper’s own pay packet for his part-time job advising the Federal Government on fair wages has jumped 47 per cent from $81,445 to $119,830 a year after the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal awarded him a rise. (Source)

Someone call Prodos – his ‘trickle-down capitalism’ seems to have a fricken big blockage.

I’ve just noticed something extraordinary (albeit not too surprising) in the photo of Prodos from John Surname’s post below:

A Fleshlight!

Step 1: Listen to this podcast (if you can — it’s pretty turgid stuff and is quite hard work) by Prodos on the topic of racism and racialism.

Step 2: Read this post by Prodos on the inferior “stone age” indigenous people of Australia.

Step 3: Listen to Prodos’ anti-Islam tune Under Sharia Law, or if you value your eardrums read the lyrics.

Step 4: Decide whether Prodos is a racist, a racialist, or neither. Give us your conclusions in comments.

In 2006 Catch The Fire Ministry’s Pastor Danny Nalliah was awarded the “Annual International Capitalism Award for Melbourne” by Prodos‘ Celebrate Capitalism project for supposedly standing up for free speech in the face of a religious vilification charge (that was later dropped). How slagging off Islam is standing up for capitalism I’ll never work out. But Prodos was so enamoured with Nalliah that he immortalised him in his alarming anti-Islam tune Under Sharia Law.

Today The Age revealed that Pastor Nalliah addressed a meeting of the extreme right-wing and proudly anti-Jewish League Of Rights in 2005, despite being warned about their racist views. Prodos, proudly pro-Israel (just this morning he posted a piece on his blog that ended with the line “May Israel Prevail”), must be spitting chips that he has publicly supported somebody who has been dumping on the wrong religion. Will Prodos now retract the Capitalism Award? We wait with our collective breath held.