Should people in the public eye be scrutinised for what they do and say on social media? Should they lose their jobs if they make a mistake?
These are some of the questions that have come up after a picture of Australian swimmers Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk posing with high powered weapons at a Californian shooting range went viral overnight.
The picture was taken while D’Arcy and Monk were in California for a swimming competition. It was initially uploaded to Kenrick’s Facebook page and also circulated on Twitter, but Swimming Australia later ordered the pair to take them down because they breached the organisation’s social media guidelines.
Australian swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk were forced to apologise after posting this shot of themselves holding guns in a shop in California on Facebook.
Since then, there have been calls for the men to be axed from the Australian Olympic Squad. In a radio interview this morning, the head of Australia’s Olympic team Nick Green said: “One of the questions (we’ll be asking) is have they brought themselves into disrepute, and have they bought the Australian team into disrepute?”
At Brisbane airport this morning, D’Arcy – who was kicked off the 2008 Olympic team after he was convicted of assaulting a teammate – apologised. “It was an opportunity to fire a few guns, a bit of fun after finishing our swimming,” he said.
“The (gun shop) owner invited us and was nice enough to let us.” “It was all meant to be a bit of fun, the photos were a bit of fun, and if anyone’s been offended, obviously I deeply apologise… It was never supposed to be offensive, and as I say, deeply sorry to anyone who was offended.”
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Your thoughts?
Comments
115 Comments so far
The milk truck guy photo is incredible!!
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When you choose a career that puts you in the public eye and ulitmately makes you a role model to who knows how many impressionable children, then yes you need to take that responsibility seriously. I get the whole tourist photo with the guns in WALMART type thing but would they post pictures of themselves holding a bong on FACEBOOK? Owning paraphenalia isnt illegal but they would never do something like that…Should have kept the pics private and out of the sight of impressionable people. I’m sick of athletes or sports stars getting away with things, they SHOULD be held accountable for their stupid actions.
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Is this a joke! This is not offensive.
Guns are not inherently bad, the problem is when guns fall into the hands of the wrong people. To look at this picture and be appalled is to have a very simplistic and literal view of social problems.
If anyone thinks guns ARE inherently bad, I think they should start by attacking our olympic shooting team, not a couple of swimmers taking tourist photos. Leave these boys alone for heaven’s sake!
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Just to add to the hypocrisy, Swimming Australia took a bunch of swimmers to a shooting range in Canberra a few years ago. There are photos and video. I think there needs to be a u-turn re D’Arcy and Monk.
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When we went into a sports store shortly after we arrived in California, we saw a tommy gun hanging up. A tommy gun. I took a photo of it, cos clearly you don’t see that in smart all sports for instance.. I probably would have handled it if given the chance and I’m in my 40s.
They did nothing wrong. Went to a shooting range, shot some targets, posed with the guns for a photo and posted them on Facebook and people are outraged. Would they like nick Darcy to don sackcloth and ashes for the rest of his life? How do we know that he doesn’t live with what he did a few yeqrs ago every day of his life??
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my 22 year old son was in California last month and did the same thing. Walked in Walmart to buy some cough syrup and tissues and noticed the guns,rifles etc hanging up. He and pretty much all the Aussie tour group he was with all got photos. The craziness of seeing them alongside the normal everyday items was a novelty . Yes there were lots of photos put on their facebooks that day
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Massive over-reaction and media beat-up. They were in a legal gun shop, at a legal shooting range. There wouldn’t even be ammunition in the guns. It’s a boy thing. Seriously. (And I’m so anti-gun it’s not funny.) Does this now mean that the Australian shooting team are not allowed to participate in the Olympics?
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These athletes get paid bucket loads of money to do what they love, live their dreams, and be idolised by the nation. Oh yeah, and not do stupid things. Too many of these “idols” beat their wives, take drugs, get into fights etc. There should be a contract making good behaviour off the job mandatory. A teacher found doing this would get into trouble because of the influence they have on our children. Nick D’Arcy is the same. His PR team must hate him!
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I’m amazed at the comments here supporting these guys. They are not “ordinary” Australians. Both are from affluent families and have enjoyed taxpayer funds to support their swim careers and bids for Olympic stardom. Both have been involved in criminal behaviour – D’Arcy for violent assault and Monk for lying to police. These are no small matters and neither have shown remorse or contrition for their actions, quite the opposite in fact. To post photos of themselves in what could only be deemed inappropriate
circumstances shows how deeply they lack any insight into the way the public perceives them ie at worst as criminals, at best a couple of tossers, and as for introspection….well the photo says it all.
To those who think the image is ironic and clever and the kind of “normal” thing any young person would do is crap. I know many young men who would never dream of posing like that.
There must be dozens of aspiring sportspeople out there who fantasize about the enormous amounts of taxpayer largesse afforded these 2 men, and who would respect the protocol required to fulfil their sporting obligations.
D’Arcy and Monk have no place representing our country and the fact they still do is frankly, embarrassing.
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I am glad they are being punished – with the latest being that they will be sent home after their events and not be permitted to attend the Closing Ceremony. I think it is high time these two were forced to grow up.
Nobody in the media is trying to ruin their lives, they’re doing a great job of that all by themselves, if they would pull their heads in they would be fine. They are part of the swimming team and the wider Olympic team (that taxpayers are all paying for!!) yet they don’t want to abide by the rules that they have signed up to.
There are consequences for actions and it about time they learned this. Hopefully this time they’ll get it.
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Two things.
Someone needs to show D’arcy how to adjust his privacy settings on FB etc. And two, it means nothing. People making meaning out of a photo. What young guy wouldn’t take the same photo? We all need to focus on important things please!
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“What young guy wouldn’t take the same photo?”
I know plenty
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I did the same when I was 32, visiting family in the US, it is just so bizarre seeing pump action rifles alongside tracksuits and nappies. I now hold a firearms licence in several states (in Oz) and I still think the photos are funny.
I agree – he should learn how to adjust his privacy settings but all in all this is nothing. I’d rather see this that the stereotypical pics of athletes pissed and showing off.
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Just wanting to check. Are the Olympic shooting team bringing the Olympics into disrepute when they hold a gun?
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this comment has no grounds – the shooting team attend the olympics for shooting, D’Arcy and Monk are representing Australia in swimming.
The fact of the matter is – they are representing Australia and should be smart enough to know that as members of the Australian Olympic swimming team they are considered role models, and should act accordingly. Granted, guns are available to purchase in the states, but the smug look in the pictures they have posted glorifies and glamourises guns and paints them in a light that is intended to make them look “cooler”
The decision to bring them home straight after their events is the right one – just like the decision to stop D’Arcy from competing in Beijing after he attacked his teammate (and didnt he do a good job – broken nose, jaw amongst other things!)
These idiots need to learn that they are in the public eye and so should act responsibily. If you fail to do so, you get punished. end of story.
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The media want to bring down stomp on and ruin these young boys lives. They won’t be happy til they are kicked off olympic teams, just so they can get the next big controversial headline.
To play god with peoples lives like this is beyond ridiculous, its dangerous. The media goes too far, too often -they destroy peoples lives and to hell with consequences.
The media should pull their heads in.
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The picture is being heavily criticized by members of the Australian shooting team. The pose that D’arcy is taking is emulating a very famous one by Chopper Read – signifying and celebrating violence.
I’ve held guns I was in the RAAF cadets – if we had ever been so flippant and disrespectful with them we would have in no certain terms been expelled (and I was fourteen). So would people in many other professions where guns are arguably needed. And rightly so. Guns are associated with horrific violence and people that have access to them do not appreciate this should be held accountable.
Nick D’arcy has already had several serious incidents with violence. Simon Cowley had his swimming career effectively ended and his face fractured in several places. The injuries were so severe that he had to have his face re-broken and reset by surgeons again recently. To escape any accountability at all he pleaded bankruptcy to avoid any reparations. He has done nothing at all to try and make amends for destroying other peoples lives.
Other elite athletes have also come forward about the broken noses and injuries and property damage that Cowley has caused with his violence.
Cowley came from a highly privileged background and has been given resoruces and opportunities that other people could only dream of. He comes across as a selfish narcissist who cares very little about the harm his violence causes.
D’arcy is given a great deal of public resources in addition to his own privileged background in pursuing his dreams and it seems to only fuel his sense of self-entitlement and ego. Lots of other people who don’t could equally have been elite sportspeople or writers or doctors.
I couldn’t care less whether D’arcy is kicked off the Olympic team or not – but in a world of very limited resources after multiple chances I do not think it is fair that he benefits from any public funding or resources. They should be redirected to other young people who may shine given half the opportunity he has been given.
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Paper passion – genius. Want.
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I think it must have been a slow news day for a picture like that to make everyone go nuts….there are better and more urgent things we need to worry about than this.
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All this photo does is confirm that the boys are douche bags… Not criminals. But I think most people figured that out anyway.
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Argh this site is so bad on my mobile! Missing comments, no ability to ‘like’ comments, awkward galleries and major lag when writing in the tiny comment box
cant wait til i get a proper computer and enter the 21st century!
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Those two boys do not need guns to make them ridiculous, they may be more likable if they spent more of our taxes on their jobs.
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So it’s okay for shooting to be an olympic sport but it’s not okay for non-shooters to give it a go? My brain is hurting from tbe hypocrisy.
I know three people (two in my immediate family) who participate in shooting and win awards. They are not bad people for going into a shooting range and putting some rounds into bits of paper. For gods sake, this is utter garbage and certainly not ‘news’.
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So, can our competitive shooters get their photos taken with their guns?
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No that would be a terrible influence. We should ban competitive shooting and stop participants from breeding, lest they corrrupt minors.
*please note heavy sarcasm
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Sami there is such a huge difference here that it beggars belief that you are trying to argue it!
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I don’t think it’s anywhere near as offensive (isn’t that becoming the most annoying word EVER?) as people make it out to be. I guess if there’s some bizarre don’t-pose-with-guns-and-post-pics-on-facebook rule and they’ve broken it, then perhaps there should be recourse. But seriously, there are far worse things they could do to jeapardise their place on the team (and we should know, because they’ve done it before
). It’s just a media beat up – and I never usually use those words. I can understand there is a conduct code they should adhere to, but I can’t see how it’s worthy of all these stories.
At the end of the day, it just shows they’re the complete losers we already knew them to be. Maybe that’s why everyone is so up in arms….the people who are ticked are the ones who didn’t want them on the team to start with. Admittedly, I fall into that group. That is to say, I don’t think either one of the ungrateful, spoiled, narcissistic little turds should have the chance to do something which countless other people would be more appreciative and deserving of. But then for all I know every last Olympian could be a closeted fool. These two just had the temerity to flaunt their idiocy publicly and that we can’t forgive.
“In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.” (HST)
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Another case of media blowing something way out of perspective, really they are just tourist shots who gives a rats, blah blah blah
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what were these guys thinking – when you are on the team you follow the team guidlines – end of story, the individuals clearly need to think before they act and know their boundaries. i guess your response to this should be the same as your response to the toddlers/babies holding stubbies and cigarettes in their mouth that mamamia featured in an earlier post – yeah that was funny and innocent too!
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I don’t have a problem with this picture, and nobody else seems to give a shit. I will be disappointed if it loses D’arcy a place in the olympics, simply because it was him.
They did what everyone who isn’t from America does! Took a photo with a gun in walmart, went to a shooting range etc.
No big deal!
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I do give a “shit”.
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You might give a shit, but I don’t see how that is relevant. They didn’t actually do anything wrong by having their photo taken. The only thing they did wrong was put it on FB and that was just dumb. One of them is definitely stupid andd apparently not a very nice person but that is not actually a crime.
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they have signed up to specific team guidelines – which they clearly don’t think apply to them – and they are being punished. They did it. It is wrong. And plenty of people do care.
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So do I
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there is absolutely nothing wrong with this picture
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gee why so much fuss about this?? like who cares? …im more concerned with the brawls on the field during footy games…why dont people find that offensive?? i do!
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I think give the boys a break, they have been training hard and are probably under so much pressure in the lead up to the Olympic. They are human too and need to let off steam and do silly things like everyone else. I don’t agree with guns but I really don’t see the point in making a fuss over this picture, they are young guys having a bit of fun.
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I have a photo of myself in Walmart holding a gun. I’m not a fan of guns, I had never even seen one up close before then. I was just so astonished that you could buy a gun at a supermarket I took a photo to show my family and friends. I don’t think this is much different.
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i would have done the same, having never held much less seen a real gun.
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When I was a kid back in the seventies, you could buy guns and ammo in K-Mart. I can remember all the rifles up in a rack in the sporting goods section.
Weird to think about it now!
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How is this even a story? Pathetic. It was legal what they were doing and I’m sure many tourist get the same sort of pic. It’s all about intention and were their intentions bad—- NO
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Where did the daily buzz go? I guess I will have to go back to a news website to get some snippets of the day then…
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This is such a non-story. I see nothing wrong with the picture.
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If Nick D’Arcy’s history of violence wasn’t enough to keep him off the 2012 Olympic team, then these photos sure as hell won’t be.
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Why would they even do this, seriously you are weeks away from competing at the Olympic Games every single thing you do should be with caution, silly boys!
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That’s exactly what they are “silly boys”.
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This would not have been news if it had been other swimmers. It’s the fact that these 2 have a ‘history’ or ‘checkered past’ as one news outlet put it, that it is in the media.
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Guns freak me out… I’m glad that I’m living in a society where they are fairly uncommon but that said I’m sure a lot of my friends that are around this age would do the same thing if they happened to walk past a gun shop
I think people have other issues with these two swimmers which they are using to turn this into a story, when it really isn’t
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There is nothing amusing/fun about gun use unless you are a farmer needing to protect your property/cattle/sheep etc.
These young swimmers are representatives and financially supported by the Australian people through government funding.
Shooting represents violence, something Nick Darcy doesn’t seem to have gained much insight into. If he had, his first priority would be to pay the damages to the young man that his violent act caused harm to.
But no, he is travelling the world, representing his country, having a bit of “boy” fun at a shooting gallery. Sorry, this just doesn’t wash with me.
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Totally agree!
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Ummm shooting is also a sport, infact it’s even an olympic sport.
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Couldn’t agree more Katrina! One which takes huge commitment & skill. Bad people with guns can equal violence, but let’s not forget people have been stabbed to death with umbrellas! There is a place for regulated gun use. Which, as a sport can be enjoyable & fun.
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I think the media has blown it all out of porportion – however, given how many people feel about the two, Darcy in particular, it was a stupid thing to do. Posing with guns and then posting it on FB does reinforce the idea of Darcy being a thug.
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those men are just having some fun, the media needs more to talk about!
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I have a photo just like this from my trip to Thailand. I went to a shooting range and the guy running it gave me two handguns and I took photos pretending I was a badass/cowboy/villain lol. People need to get lives – they weren’t hurting anyone and it isn’t illegal to take a photo with a gun last time I checked so I don’t understand how this is even worth the media mentioning???!
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I’m in two minds about this story:
1. After training like maniacs for the Olympics, shouldn’t these guys have the opportunity to have a little fun and let off some steam? Most guys their age would probably have been at the pub with their mates – but in this situation neither of them would be in the position to have a cheeky night out (not this close to the Olympics).
2. Surely by now they should have learnt to keep pics like this private. It’s not unusual for guys that age to have some fun at a shooting range overseas – at least 50% of my male friends have. But being professionals in their respective fields they wouldn’t dream of posting this on social media, as you have no control of these images once you put them out there.
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Don’t see any problems at all with this photo – total media beat up!
I despise violence and guns but really – it’s just a picture people!
As for their prior offences – clearly they were in the wrong but if the haven’t been disqualified on character grounds before now, this photo certainly is no reason to!
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If these guys stood at the end of the swimming pool holding guns while waiting to jump into the Olympic race then I would be concerned.
But at a shooting range in California? No.
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I went to primary school with Kenrick (you have written Kendrick above!). He was a nice kid from a nice family, I played on the same netball team as him and his sisters. The photo is nothing. Just the media making a big hoo ha out of nothing.
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So what if you went to school with him or if you’re his best bloody mate! That’s irrelevant.
These guys are public figures (whether they like it or not), who are paid/sponsored an absolute fortune to do what they hopefully love (!!). They can’t just do whatever they like in public, they are being watched! They need to be squeaky clean if they are going to be representing our country. I’m pretty sure the next guy, who missed out on a place by .01 of a sec, who trains just as hard mind you, would love to take their places in London!
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My point was that I know he is not a rat bag. I remember Kenrick waking up at 4am in the morning when we were in the 4th grade and training and then back at the pools most afternoons, training. He worked hard from a young age and I am glad that he is representing our country.
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nobody forced him to do ANY of that.
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Seriously? People need to stop wasting time and effort worrying about such unimportant things like this. Go enjoy life or spend the time worrying about things that actually matter in life!!
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People’s dislike of Nick D’arcy comes from the fact that he assualted another swimmer in a violent act thus ending this guy’s olympic career and then declared bankruptcy – thereby not paying the court awarded damages
He is then pictured with a gun – yes legal – which is a weapon … a violent weapon. I would have thought that he would have stayed a long long way away from anything associated with violence – but he isnt a very smart boy
I would imagine there wouldnt be a sponsor who would touch this guy
I was there the night he won his selection into the Australian team and he is an arrogant piece of work – the majority of the crowd didnt applaud him and that includes his swimming team mates
If he wants repentence go and earn some money and pay back the court awarded damages to the team mate you assaulted.
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I agree, the guy is an unrepentant thug and I don’t want him representing my country.
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I couldn’t have worded it better myself. Ordinarily a photo like this wouldn’t worry me however given his history it is a terrible lack of judgement on his behalf to post it. The smug look on his face really gets me too.
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Absolutely. Couldn’t have said it better so I won’t try
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This is such a non story. Okay, these guys are not angels, but they HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!! I cannot believe the media’s reaction to this, and on all the sites I have seen this on this morning, across various publications, it appears the majority of the public think there is nothing to see here too.
And even if they had kept their settings private on Facebook, this picture would still have got out.
For heaven’s sake they are young boys having fun. And in this case, they haven’t hurt anyone else.
Move along people
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Reminds me of a photo of Ivan Milat – it’s not illegal, but it is tasteless given the controversy surrounding these two and yes, they need to learn how to adjust their privacy on Facebook
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hmmm… interesting, as I think this is an over reaction, however, I’d be interested in what they actually breached in the social media policy? As if they breached a contract, I could therefore understand the ‘over-reaction’ – but without this I feel people (like me!) are simply asking ‘what’s everyone’s issue with this?!’
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People are only angry because they don’t want Nick Darcy on the team. He didn’t even post the pic, so he hasn’t breached any social media policy…
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OK, so hypothetically, if Hamish and Andy took the same photo for their “Gap Year” series, would we all be so upset?
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But that would be different. They’d be doing it with the intent to create publicity, right?
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…I was thinking it was more about being humorous…
“WOW…look what Americans are like…you can do THIS…in a shop!”
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If Hamish & Andy did it, I’d be fairly sure that is what was intended. These two? Not so sure.
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Well, I guess we can all bring our own prejudices/preconceptions to things like this…I think that’s what a lot of people are doing…I just don’t see anything sinister in this photo…and I HATE guns!
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I think people have concern due to the fact that he has a history of making stupid decisions. He has given people a reason to doubt his character.
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I definitely don’t think they should be cut from the team just for posing with guns. Sure it might not have been the brightest idea in the world, but boys will be boys. It’s not like they were pointing the guns at each other or were caught out drunk at a strip club with hookers…
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Ahh this one has made me really mad. I think that it was a tad silly on the boys part given their histories but the way the media has gone about it is disgusting. In a gold coast paper today they described the guns as the same type of ones used in the Virginia Tech and Port Arthur massacre!!! WTF!? Did they really just try to link two horrific massacres with a tourist shot???? Talk about slow news day. Next there will be a photo of Libby Trickett patting a dingo which has come from the same blood line as the one that took Azaria Chamberlain. JESUS.
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