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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Irfan's civil discussions


Irfan Yusuf did not identify himself at the Sydney Writers' Festival discussions on blogging, but we are 99 per cent sure he is the one who stood up near the end to berate Tim Blair about some long-archived comments on Tim's old blog.

We can only guess this means Irf does not consider himself to be a journalist, as identifying yourself is one of the basic tenets of the Australian journalists' Code of Ethics.

Anyway, Irfan has supposedly reported on it for Crikey.

It is most ironic to see him describe the affair as "surprisingly civil", as his contribution was clearly the most uncivil part of the entire discussion.

We can be fairly sure the questioner was Irf because, as described here, finding comments on blogs from which he can then manufacture outrage appears to be pretty much the one thing that gets him out of bed in the morning.

Of course, if he ever wanted some credibility, there is another path he could be taking.

UPDATE: Something of a disagreement in comments.

6 comments:

Tim Blair said...

Yeah, it was Irf. No, he didn't identify himself, but he didn't really need to - the question itself served as ID.

Weird thing was, while I was answering, Irf keep ducking behind a pylon so I couldn't see him. Why, I have no idea - I'd already clocked him when he asked his question. Maybe he's shy about being seen taking notes. I have no idea.

By the way, there's another thing besides manufacturing outrage that gets Irf out of bed in the morning. I've heard it's a Caterpillar 966G Series II loading shovel.

Minicapt said...

I disagree: I think a Caterpillar 545C Grapple Skidder would be more appropriate.

Cheers

CIS said...

Irfan did exactly the same thing when Mark Steyn last spoke in Australia.

During Q&A Irfan was completely offensive, and in a subsequent outburst, wished Mark Steyn drop dead.

A subsequent audience member prefaced his question by noted this, as well as pointing out that the previous speaker (Irfan) was a frequent contributor to the Fairfax press.

After the event was over Irfan came thundering(!!) down the aisle and demanded to know the man's name, threatening to sue him. He was laughed at by plenty of onlookers.

nic said...

I wonder whether he gets the size related irony in 'Planet Irf'?

Dan Lewis said...

I wonder whether he gets the size related irony in 'Planet Irf'?Astronomically speaking, "Super Giant Star Irf" would be more correct. However he wouldn't want to blow his own trumpet.

Nor for that matter would anyone else.

Anonymous said...

A man of Irf's size would only risk a machine big enough to handle that huge unit that heckled Loewenstein at the event before holding Mr Blair's hand and accompanying him home afterwards. Man, she was fucking enormous! I swear, anything that will carry so huge a load will have no trouble carrying Irf!

Irf and Blair's bloated girlfriend can always go on a diet, but not even plastic surgery will help Blair get any prettier.

Hahaha! Aren't fat jokes funny!!