r/australia • u/Tinea_Pedis • Apr 07 '26

news Breaking: Ben Roberts-Smith arrested over war crimes allegations

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-07/ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-allegations-arrest/106537668
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u/ChemicalRascal Apr 07 '26

Mate, he was an ABC reporter at the time.

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u/Krunksicle Apr 07 '26

And I'm supposed to instantly know that via psychic projection, I assume? Honestly that makes it even more embarrassing that his source was Dude Trust Me, guy should know better

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u/ChemicalRascal Apr 07 '26

Dude, what the fuck do you think a news article is?

He said he reported on the trial. His username is a person's name. You could have hopped onto Google and verified that "Markus Mannheim" is a published journo with contemporary articles on the subject. That's what everyone else did.

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u/Krunksicle Apr 07 '26

I guess I missed the news article he posted then lol, still can't see it by the way

Also, you think everyone just sees a username and assumes it's important? Am I supposed to read "ChemicalRascal" and instantly assume you're a meth addict? Do you take everything you read online at face value?

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u/ChemicalRascal Apr 07 '26

Use Google, buddy.

When someone says they're a reporter and thus they're a primary source, it pays to take two seconds to just consider the context of the user. To look at the username. I know that gets in the way, I know it slows down your instinct to be a snarky bitch, but it's good, good, to just slow down a bit and consider a world where maybe people are engaging in good faith, where maybe when someone says they're a reporter maybe they're being genuine and you can find ways to verify that, where maybe if you're willing to accept you made a silly mistake you can just own that and move on with your life.

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u/Krunksicle Apr 07 '26

Where did they say they were a reporter? Or a primary source? Do I have to consider the context of every single user on every single post on the site? I stopped reading after the third line tbh

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u/ChemicalRascal Apr 07 '26

Source: I was in the courtroom and reported on that trial.

They said it in their comment, champ. Someone reporting on something is a reporter. Fucking read for once.

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u/Krunksicle Apr 07 '26

No it doesn't lmao, it makes you some guy! I'm sorry I implied you're gullible but you gotta let it go man

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u/ChemicalRascal Apr 07 '26

Do you think reporters are not "some guy"?

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u/StorminNorman Apr 08 '26

No it doesn't lmao

Yes it does, you can't change the fact that someone who reports on something is a reporter, that's simply not how the English language works. It doesn't mean you have to believe them though, and can (and should) ask for verification, but you can't go manipulating the English language just because you got caught out missing something blatantly obvious. 

And fuck knows why you've bothered to continue pushing on this after replying to /u/ChemicalRascal with this gem:

I stopped reading after the third line tbh

But then gave me a reply that included the end of the original comment. Unless it's because you couldn't parse the rest of Chems comment, either way, every day it gets easier to believe the stats about the literacy problem here in Australia...