One should be interested to see how the same article pans out on the merde-och press website News.com.au... And here it is, FULLY SPONSORED by, you've guessed it, a betting company, TAB.COM.AU, that may or may not have anything to do with Tom Waterhouse... If it had, one could subtly bring up the concept of collusion... but I would not... 

 

 

But should one print this article, all the advertising disappear as if by magic... Thus the advertising is strictly time limited and not ever recorded for posterity...

So here it is:

 

 

Yes my brains have been massaged... I need to lay off the turps for a while...

 

Meanwhile here are few thoughts:

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT TOM WATERHOUSE

It's just wrong to have a bookie so involved in the coverage of the footy. It has gone too far.

 - Joe Hockey

Wimbledon Drinking Game: 1. Drink every time you see Tom Waterhouse. 2. Have your stomach pumped at the end of every Set.

- ABC personality Chas Licciardello

I would rather hang out with Guy Sebastian than Tom Waterhouse.

- Port Adelaide footballer Tom Logan

Is he a sporting commentator or is he a bookmaker? … Since when do gambling professionals become commentators on sport?

- Independent MP Andrew Wilkie

Just watching Tom Waterhouse sign a young blokes’ jersey. Scary stuff.

- NRL fan AJ Carr

…instead of having the tagline of ''I was born to bet,'' it should have been ''I was born to take money off mugs who bet.

- Journalist and author Peter FitzSimons

Tom Waterhouse has been a lightning rod for the anger that’s brewing about the constant bombardment of betting odds on TV, often when kids are watching.

- Greens senator Richard di Natale  

Poor Tom: seems the sports gambling supremo has become the latest target of the nanny squad.

When will Australian consumers learn that they don’t need a parliamentary public relations exercise to demonstrate that the likes of Waterhouse can & will do whatever they like, ably assisted by politicians of all persuasions, but that they will only ever act in their own interests?

Given that it is not in a robber baron’s interests to “kill the goose that lays his golden eggs”, surely the most effective step that consumers can take to protect themselves & their kids from their relentless predations is to simply “switch the bastards off”?

Agreed, John... Just switch the bastards off... But the majority of the unwashed out there, including the fully bathed, perfumed and after-shaved panel beaters are glued to the lamp like moths to an Edison light-bulb... And they eat from their KFC buckets with special sauces, while watching a commercial about Macdonald followed by a "the Burgers are Better at Hungry Jack" both providing the next days dinners... So they swallow the footy and the odds about who's "going to should win"... It's like educating sonny and girly with god... The god of gambling... And the merde-och press is in on it... because there is a lot of money in it...

 

I hope the kiddies eventually realise they've been conned like people who are conned with religion eventually awaken, but like alcoholics, they are trained to gamble responsibly — until the day they gamble once too much with their own lives and that of those who are close to them... That's why I "cleverly" placed the bet by TOM IN THE TOON... I think too much...

From the merde-och press...

 

On Easter Sunday millions of people around the world are heading for church to celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

Across this nation, Australians will overwhelmingly be meeting up with family and mates and perhaps fretting about whether they stocked up on enough booze.

Australia's church attendance rates are historically among the lowest in the world, around nine per cent, rising slightly at Christmas and Easter.

Is Australia a godless nation, and does leadership have anything to do with it?

In the United States, where no man has ever been elected to the office of president unless he is a Christian and a regular churchgoer, more than nine out of 10 Americans believe in God.

Julia Gillard is the fifth Australian prime minister to publicly admit to not believing in a Christian God, after John Curtin, John Gorton, Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke (an agnostic). Ms Gillard told news.com.au that, over Easter, she will be spending some time with family in Adelaide.

However, a survey of federal MPs and senators ahead of the Easter weekend shows that Canberra is not as godless a place as it might seem.

More than 80 per cent of the federal politicians who responded said they believed in God and would be attending at least one church service this weekend.

 

http://m.news.com.au/MostPopularNews/fi1892057.htm

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As the merde-och press pose the conundrum of religion in Australia, one has to note the front page of The Sunday Telegraph on Easter day, where the main article was about a mother defending her rich kid's right to incite you to gamble on the colour of his jockstraps... Only a small peep about the Easter spirit split between a religion where priests have been naughty and some bunny Easter eggs were shown...  If this article is not a subtle indirect attack on the Prime Minister's atheism, what is?... 

 

After all, the earlier Crusaders knew real cartography all too well. Their castles, including the now civil  war-wounded Krak des Chevaliers in present-day Syria, had “Europeanised” the architecture of the Middle East. These castles, I have decided after much prowling over their battlements – a singularly unacademic view, I know – were Gothic cathedrals with fortress walls instead of flying buttresses.

By the Renaissance, however, there was a place called “Christendom” which was definitely not in the Middle East. That’s what most of western and central Europe was then called – it started somewhere north-west of what is now Bosnia, along the Ottoman frontier.

Christ, in other words, belonged to “us”. And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green? No, of course not. But we had, by the 18th and 19th centuries, so appropriated Christianity that Jesus might as well have been born in England. Or America.

And so, of course, we arrive at the Bible Belt and such born-again Christians as George W. Bush who still, apparently, does not realise that his God-given right to invade Iraq led directly to the destruction of one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East.

Thus, Bush was able to call for a crusade in the Muslim world and to talk about Good and Evil without realising that for him, as for the painters of Florence, Jesus came from the West rather than the Middle East. That’s why Bush advanced the cause, not of the US Constitution but of the Bible. But where did all this start? Dare we blame Giotto? 

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/when-george-bush-invaded-iraq-life-imitated-art-8555498.html

 

Dare I mention the very funny episode of Red Dwarf called "Lemons"?... In it, our intrepid heroes need lemons — mind you, Rimmer is just a selfish minus-IQ  idiot, the Cat is a vain idiot who makes mirrors on the wall die in shame, Kryten is a submissive robot who can win towel-folding competitions and Dave is a farting yobbo who loves curries and papadams, including pizza curries. Dave being the last human alive and his mates are in search the yellow fruit, get acquainted with Jesus of Caesaria... mistaking the dude for Jesus of Nazareth...  

The writers of the comedy have great knowledge of "history" and its bullshit variants, and of its quirkiness we take for granted... like we take our daily tablet of Medialium... The RD show though greatly entertaining, takes us to levels of stupidity quite below that of George W Bush... whose idiocy made us cry of incredulous pain...

 

 

Please. So Ray Warren is not throwing to Tom because of the mooted $15 million he has thrown into Channel Nine's coffers, but actually because he is genuinely interested in young Tom's insights into the game? PLEASE.
Still, perhaps this is all too harsh, and you're only speaking out because as a loving parent you simply want to protect your child?
Funnily enough, that's exactly how we feel. Millions of us. And that's why there is an outcry.
On the off chance I have converted you, here is the link to the petition started by a reader.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/belly-up-no-thats-just-the-punters-doing-their-dough-20130403-2h77f.html#ixzz2PRgoErpf
-------------------
Thank you Fitzi.... Good on ya. Fitzi... Mixing gambling and genuine sports is devaluing what a good mind in a healthy body embodies, especially in children... It leads to rorts, collusion and corruption of the sports including players, referees and trainers — as well as encouraging people to become addicted to becoming couch potatoes and losers...

 

 

From Richard Di Natale

My bill to introduce restrictions on the promotion of betting odds during sports broadcasts and programs such as The Footy Show has certainly evoked some passionate responses.

There was the usual rant from those ideologues at the Institute of Public Affairs who believe that a modest proposal to restrict gambling advertising to children is the domain of “censors, wowsers and reactionaries” (The Age 7/4).

When Tom Waterhouse is signing young kids' NRL guernseys after the game you know the industry code is just a smokescreen. 

The Daily Telegraph ran a front page story headlined "LEAVE MY BOY ALONE!", where Gai Waterhouse defended her son, the now-omnipresent Tom Waterhouse, from those “nasty Greenies” (meaning me) who, want to destroy the gambling industry, or so she says.

But these predictable criticisms have been dwarfed by the overwhelming number of positive responses from the public. The issue has clearly hit a nerve.

Some people argue that we don't face a real gambling problem and this is simply another moral panic. The statistics don't back that up. Turnover from online betting, of which sports betting is a major component, has risen from $2.4 billion in 2007 to almost $10 billion in 2012.

Importantly, this figure does not include the turnover from unregulated offshore operators, which the gambling industry believes amounts to billions more dollars each year. We know that a significant proportion of this gambling turnover will come from problem gamblers.

When anything has the potential for harm, whether it be alcohol, tobacco or gambling, we face some difficult choices about how to regulate them. We can choose to ban them but if there's a strong demand for the product blanket prohibition inevitably fails.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/controls-are-needed-to-prevent-a-generation-of-problem-gamblers-20130417-2i0b6.html#ixzz2QnwuutI7


See toon and story from top...

 

John Singleton (Singo) was not very happy about Gai Waterhouse... On this lovely Sunday morning (28/4/13), all major media front page — the ABC, the SMH and news.com.au — are about Singo splitting from Gai as if they had been married... Worse than this. Singo's horses were TRAINED by Gai and there is a sniff of an alleged possible betting scandal, is there? Apparently Tom (Gai's son) was told to rack off... From the SMH:

 

 

Singleton refused to reveal his sources. He described one as an ex-group 1-winning jockey and others as internationally known people. When told by Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy that Waterhouse deserved to know who had passed that information on to him, Singleton said: ''I told Gai of them before the race.''

Fairfax Media learned that Singleton has been advised not to comment further on the matter after contacting his racing manager Duncan Grimley last night.

Attempts to contact Johns were also unsuccessful. Tom Waterhouse has denied making an adverse comments about the fitness of More Joyous and staunchly defended his part in the saga, tweeting his book on the All Aged Stakes to more than 14,000 followers. It suggested the final result was a ''strip out'' for his firm and he also would have lost on the race if More Joyous had won. ''Mum wouldn't have started it if it had faults,'' he said. Gai Waterhouse's bookmaking husband Robbie Waterhouse also exchanged expletives with Singleton following the inquiry.

Sportsbet will refund more than $150k to More Joyous' backers after the fiasco.The inquiry will continue on Friday and no findings have been made.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/horseracing/johns-linked-to-more-joyous-spat-20130427-2ilsh.html#ixzz2RhLwVPSS
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From news.com.au:
SPECTACULAR BUST-UP: 'Gai, you're finished. Tom should shut up.'

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/#ixzz2RhOYypgw
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From the ABC:

Singleton was clearly upset by the performance and said he did not want More Joyous to run today because of an injury.

He told Channel Seven that Waterhouse had passed information of the injury onto her bookmaker son Tom, and that he would pull his horses from the Waterhouse stable as a result.

"I was going to have $100,000 on her," he said.

"When her own son is a bookmaker saying [More Joyous has] got problems I didn't know about, well you have to ask the racing officials, you have to ask Gai, you have to ask Tommy.

"All I'm saying that as an owner there's too much conflict of interest. All my horses are leaving Gai tomorrow."

Tom Waterhouse denied knowing of an injury to the horse.

"I never said that it had problems, I never knew that it had problems," he told Channel Seven.

"Mum wouldn't have started it if it had problems."

The Waterhouse stable declined to comment on the allegations.

There has been bad blood between Singleton and Waterhouse since the hall of fame trainer chose an outside barrier for More Joyous in last year's Cox Plate.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-27/all-aged-stakes/4654466

----------------------------------

And this is the front page news...

May as well join in and tell Tom and all the other betting agencies to RACK OFF and stop advertising betting during sports program on TV.

I may as well tell the kiddies to go to live footy matches so they're not bombarded by BETTING ON TV... But as you know, hallowed sports-grounds are also invaded by billboard betting advertising AND betting ANNOUNCEMENTS...

TEN TO ONE you can't escape the bloody thing...

 

See story and mischief at top

 

Comments at the SMH

Greg - were there high fives in the office when you came up with the "bold personality" line?
Jason L

I too, would like to give that line the kudos it deserves!
jj

Made me look for the line about his shirts of fine cotton.
kaff

That is gold!For those that came in late, 'bold personality' was the horse substituted for 'fine cotton' which resulted in Tom's father and grandfather being banned from bookmaking for a number of years.
Philly Slim

Love it!
Interested Bystander

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/horseracing/everywhere-bookie-unable-to-lie-low-in-this-scandal-20130429-2ip0t.html#ixzz2RtlcUzFK

See toon and story at top...

 

The latest episode in Australia's quest to find a satisfying moral dimension to life through sport is due to peak on May 6.

 

At a national level, the More Joyous inquiry is an opportunity to answer - at least in part - the naggingly elusive question of whether there is anything vaguely dodgy about the racing industry.

At a journalistic level, it's a pure and unalloyed delight. When else are we going to get the chance to refer, with a straight face, to ''Racing NSW's general manager of integrity, Ray 'The Hat' Murrihy''?

 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/dig-a-little-deeper-find-some-real-manure-20130504-2izij.html#ixzz2SNmCeAtY

 

Aaahhhh, Annabel... what a punch in the face of the gambling industry, with a soggy wet lettuce!... More fluff and bubbles than any Dada contraption designed to make you accept a urinal as a work of art... Fantastic... Yes the gambling industry is creaming a lot of extra dosh that the welfare and charity organisations claim is not in the pool of discretionary cash... And what about those poor gambling addicts who lost their money on a silly horse race that may or may not have been rigged... There are many ways to rig a racehorse, from pills to a slightly bent nail in the shoes, near a nerve... But I don't bet... I might buy a lotto ticket with a 3 billion chances of loosing two bucks to one on winning 3 millions buckaroos... But I only do it on the days I find loose change under the sofa cushions to go and buy some milk and, elation, I found a bit more dosh than expected... 

Australia's biggest corporate bookmaker, Sportingbet, has backed calls for a complete ban on the spruiking of live odds in sports broadcasts and launched a withering attack on Tom Waterhouse.

Sportingbet joined market leader Tabcorp in voicing concern at the damage being done to the gambling industry by the growing public outrage at the intrusion of betting into football coverage.

Michael Sullivan, chief executive of Sportingbet, said he would support a full ban for the good of the industry, and accused Tom Waterhouse of ''acting irresponsibly''.
''What he's doing now is affecting all our businesses,'' said Mr Sullivan. ''I'm the biggest consumer of rugby league in the world and it makes me sick in the guts when he comes on TV. The frequency of his appearances is what's also driving people mad and Channel Nine has a lot to answer for.

''Prohibition of advertising full-stop is going too far but there's some middle ground. If it means banning live odds on TV to sort this out then that's what should happen. I wouldn't have a problem with it.''
Tabcorp, Australia's largest betting operator, has also gone public with its concern at the public outcry and a call for the Gillard government to step in with a national regulatory framework to replace state-based systems.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tom-waterhouse-is-ruining-industry-betting-rival-says-20130522-2k1ex.html#ixzz2U77mENnA

You haven't made it until you have a self-mocking cartoon caricature hanging on your loo wall.

When Fairfax Media's Rocco Fazzari worked his magic on Tom Waterhouse, he wasn't expecting praise from his subject.

But, in keeping with the tradition of politicians, movers and shakers purveying their cartoons, the bookie has contacted the artist, requesting copies of the illustrations we used in these pages surrounding his dalliance with TV commentary. Next came a voice message from his dad Robbie.

A return call on Friday confirmed a double thumbs up to the satirical take off. Robbie loves the cartoons and accompanying online animations, with scores by Denis Carnahan, it turns out.

--------------

http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/celebrity-news/tom-waterhouse-asks-fairfax-for-picture-of-himself-20130605-2np04.html

A ban on live-odds advertising will take effect from the start of next month in South Australia. 

Premier Jay Weatherill said South Australians would no longer be bombarded with live-odds advertising on commercial television, radio or at sporting grounds. 

He said the Independent Gambling Authority (IGA) had approved the Government's 'fast-tracked' application for a ban. 

Mr Weatherill said betting agencies that breached the regulations would face on-the-spot fines of up to $100,000 and withdrawal of their authorisation to operate in South Australia. 

"We know that these are practical and responsible changes and importantly, we know they can be implemented quickly," he said. 

The Government said the IGA declined Free TV's request that the live-odds ban not apply to entertainment programs broadcast at the same time as a live sporting event.

http://www.farmingahead.com.au/News/agricultural/04/07/2013/192153/live-odds-advertising-ban-to-apply-in-south-australia-from-august-1

 

See toon at top... Tom adds: "Except in South Australia..."

Fairfax Media and columnist Peter FitzSimons have won a defamation case brought by prominent bookmaker Tom Waterhouse.

Mr Waterhouse sued over an article that appeared in FitzSimons' The Fitz Files column on September 8 last year, detailing an email from TomWaterhouse.com to those on the Australian Rugby Union's database.
The email offered those who backed the Wallabies over the Springboks money back if the Australian side lost.

FitzSimons published a response in his column, which read: "Hi Tom, Any chance you'd get out of my face? People like me who handed over our details to the ARU did NOT do so to be harassed with brain-dead offers like yours, let alone have our kids exposed to it.
"And what about a little truth in advertising? What about you add to your spiel, 'I'm prepared to take a little hit, just once, just to get you on the gambling hook, in the hope that I can then shake you down for decades to come!'
"Do NOT send me your awful offal again. And shame on the ARU for serving up its dwindling supporter base to the likes of you. It is acting well outside its charter to serve the interests of the game, and will face an outright revolt if it continues. Be told. Mr FitzSimons, to you."

In pleadings filed to the NSW District Court, Mr Waterhouse alleged the article contained several defamatory imputations, including that he "harassed persons who handed over details to the ARU", "exposed the children of people who handed over their details to the ARU to harassment and gambling" and that he was not "a genuine supporter of the Wallabies but uses them as a means to make money from gambling".

In court on Wednesday, Judge Michael Finnane handed down a judgment in favour of Fairfax Media, by consent from both parties. The judge set aside existing costs orders and made no other orders concerning costs.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/tom-waterhouse-loses-defamation-case-against-peter-fitzsimons-20130828-2sq1u.html#ixzz2g4FNlnD6
See toon at top...

Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Gai Waterhouse has been charged by stewards over the race-day treatment of one of her runners in yesterday's race.

Waterhouse and Mikel Delzangles, trainer of 2011 Cup winner Dunaden, were quizzed by Racing Victoria stewards hours before the Cup after security guards witnessed handlers giving medication to their horses.

Dunaden received an oral treatment for an ulcer, while the Waterhouse-trained Tres Blue was given a cream for an irritated hoof.

The treating of horses on race day is not permitted, and the Australian Racing Board has introduced a mandatory six-month ban for the offence.

Chief steward Terry Bailey yesterday said Dunaden and Tres Blue were allowed to run in the Cup because their treatment was "at the minor end of the scale".

Bailey said stewards were satisfied that both horses were drug-free.

Yesterday, Waterhouse said the medication flamazine was applied to Tres Blue by a stable-hand who had made "an honest mistake".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-06/waterhouse-charged-over-race-day-treatment/5074370

Champion Black Caviar has safely delivered her first foal, a filly by Exceed And Excel, in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

Her managing owner Neil Werrett was there for the birth and said all went smoothly.

"She did it all very naturally with very little assistance," Werrett told Sydney's Sky Sports Radio.

"The filly is outstanding with two small white socks and a bit of white across the head.

"We were lucky to arrive about five minutes before she started to give birth.

read more; http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-13/black-caviar-delivers-first-foal/5741552

Read articles from top...

Gus tip analysis: Black Caviar had to retire as the horse always won races making betting a bit boring... unlike Fine Cotton which was not the horse it was meant to be when it won a big race while being a nag...

 

Recently a nation stopped, put on hats that looked like albatrosses crash-landing in gateaux, and gathered to watch a bizarre precursor to Formula One racing where the vehicles occasionally get shot in the face.

It’s totally worth it though, because tonnes of people lose huge amounts of money.

Should you be concerned by tiny men mounting then whipping a form of transport last legitimately used two grandfathers ago, then fear not. There exist forms of entertainment far worse, and far crueller. Step in Sea World.

If someone opened a theme park where the main attraction was a claustrophobic cage packed with disgruntled assassins, eyebrows would raise. And after several lives were claimed, you’d think someone would twig: “Perhaps the Natural Born Killer display isn’t such a good idea.”

Not so, apparently, with Sea World and its well-established relationship with killer whales, the subject of the fascinating documentary Blackfish, currently available on iView.

The documentary follows the tragic life of Tilikum, a graceful aquatic giant that’s spent most of his life squeezed into what looks like a broken footspa. Seeing footage of “Tilly” when not performing, you wonder how Sea World could have conjured circumstances any worse. Cram a blue whale into a thimble perhaps?

Interviews and archive footage impressively retell the story of Tilikum’s capture: a horrifying chase involving explosives, boats and helicopters until the young killer whale calves were herded into a cove. I was amazed by the sheer scale of the operation, easily mistaken for a full military assault on a kraken.

What was even more surprising was the orcas’ intelligence in dealing with the chase.

The males swim off, trying to lead the hunt astray in order to give the females and calves a chance to make an escape. It’s one of many moments in Blackfish that demonstrates their mental prowess, making the circumstances of their captivity even more baffling. They’re obviously not floating meat calculators, so why treat them as such?

At multiple points, the trainers attest to the orcas’ advanced emotional and mental characteristics, yet see no problem with locking that intelligence up for mere circus spectacle. It feels like you’re watching someone say “I’m so privileged to work with this sensitive genius I trapped in my basement.”

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/nov/10/blackfish-documentary-lingering-obsession-animals-entertainment 

 

See image at top...