Tory Shepherd
Tory Shepherd studied anthropology, then travelled, then studied some more, then travelled, then ended up with a cadetship at The Advertiser in 2006. She covered police rounds, politics, general news and health, while working at The Punch on the side. Now Tory is working full time at The Punch. She can be seen and heard on ABC local radio and Radio National, PM Live on Sky, and in other nooks and crannies. She is passionate about words, wine, chilli, soccer, and people (even the ones who hate her or keep praying for her soul). Follow her on Twitter - @ToryShepherd
Articles by Tory Shepherd
ICB: Is white bread the worst thing since sliced bread?
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit column. It’s a regular column that looks at skulduggery and balderdash, spurious reasoning…... Read more
Need someone to do your dirty work? Try God.
Punishing the baddies is only fun in the movies. In real life it’s messy, expensive, and fraught with guilt and…... Read more
Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself
Hansonism’s back – and we’re not just talking about Pauline appearing as a sometime wannabe journo for Today Tonight. Her…... Read more
The discovery that will put you off drinking forever
People are always trying to convince us to drink less. Think of the children, they say. Think of the liver.…... Read more
South Australia. It’s the middle bottom bit.
If South Australia had just arrived in the world, red and wrinkled and mewling, what would we call it? Something…... Read more
Mass hysteria, monkey men, and penis panics
Shit! Who knew you could catch Tourette’s Syndrome online? Well you, can’t, not really. But you may be able to…... Read more
Labor’s new strategy of Speaking No Evil
Did you know that ostriches do not actually bury their heads in the sand? They do scratch around a bit…... Read more
Time to put ‘positive discrimination’ down?
Positive discrimination is, if not dead, at least on life support with an overeager nurse reaching for the off switch.…... Read more
Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone
The worship of ‘working families’ is a bipartisan affair – all sides of politics fall over themselves to appeal to…... Read more
When skeptics go soft: A slightly different ICB
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit. It’s a weird one. An email arrived in my inbox yesterday spruiking “Australian…... Read more
How Swan almost took a dive on the Budget Speech
Trapped in a political death roll, Treasurer Wayne Swan prepared a Budget speech that would see him go down in…... Read more
Who cares about the Budget? We’ve got Craig Thomson!
Right now the nation’s brightest political minds are trapped in the recycled air of Budget lock up, sniffing out black…... Read more
Be a bit sceptical about the new breed of doubters
In The Bible, Doubting Thomas famously put his hand into Jesus’ wound and had a good grope around to convince…... Read more
ICB: House the homeless before asylum seekers?
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit, a regular column where we take a look at codswallop and propaganda, logical…... Read more
Good news, Australia! You’re actually doing just fine
Australia still has the haves and the have-nots, but more people now see themselves in the ‘have not’ camp. How…... Read more
Keep Calm and Carry On - it’s just the Olympics
In one of the world’s most impressive displays of bristling military might, the UK armed forces are creating a £600…... Read more
Australian politics gets curiouser and curiouser
Australian politics at the moment is a strange sort of Wonderland. It’s filled with odd characters – some weird, some…... Read more
Why Miss World contestants are sometimes not ‘native’
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the reject miscreants of a dying civilisation stole a starship…... Read more
Octoslum: When a mum can’t keep up with her litter
If a clean house is a sign of a wasted life then Octomom’s filthy home shows… what, exactly? Turns out…... Read more
Wake up and find some end-of-life style
Dusty plastic flowers. Droning dirges. A cut-and-paste eulogy that uses the phrase ‘member of the community’. Instant coffee. Squeezed into…... Read more
Confessions of a soccer diva
Oh, I can dive. I can soar like an eagle through the air then somersault like an acrobat. In my…... Read more
ICB: Freedom of religion vs. freedom from religion
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit, a regular column on, well, bullshit. Today, dear readers, it’s a three-in-one unholy…... Read more
Gibson: Is it time to take pity on the racist potty mouth?
The sight of a famous person crumbling is irresistible. People love to see the mighty fallen, to gloat over leaked…... Read more
Five people who should never be Mayor. Of anywhere.
Mayors are an integral and important part of our political process. Who else would bin the bin emptiers? Who else…... Read more
Shackle Anders Breivik like the dog that he is
The least they could have done is shackled the maleficent beast so he couldn’t proudly give his right-wing salute. If…... Read more
One divine secret about this ra-ra Sisterhood
It’s called a glass ceiling because it’s invisible. There’s no roid-filled, bicep-thrusting bouncer at the door denying you entry, just…... Read more
A new start for the Greens or the beginning of the end?
Did anyone see that coming? Greens Leader Bob Brown’s shock resignation today came out of a clear blue sky, and…... Read more
ICB: Faking it - I cannut believe it’s not peanut butter
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit, a weekly look at bollocks and balderdash, spin and pseudoscience. This week’s bullshit…... Read more
Conservatives: Are they right or will they be left behind?
Yet another study has emerged that appears to put people with conservative political views in a somewhat shady light. The…... Read more
Don’t dump this carbon tax junk on the government
The carbon tax is burley in the water and the feeding frenzies are fierce. Circling this morning are a few…... Read more
Atheists would find it hard to believe they’re in Heaven
Dawkins was snooty. Pell was outwitted. The questions were predictable, as were the mentions of Hitler and Stalin. There were…... Read more
Why beautiful people should stick to what they’re good at
It’s no longer enough that the Beautiful People taunt us Mere Mortals with their poreless, flawless skin, their lack of…... Read more
ICB: Barbie exists to make children feel normal
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit, a regular column on spin and skulduggery, pseudoscience and shenanigans. This week we’re…... Read more
War on drugs is just a political smokescreen
It would take a brave government to decriminalise drugs – even if it was just marijuana, which is generally less…... Read more
An exorcise in making the supernatural sexy
Is your church plagued by plummeting attendance levels? Is your exorcism business in the red? Are the tea leaves telling…... Read more
Stop skirting the rape issue and cut it off at the knees
Miniskirts will be declared pornography and Indonesia will ban them as a politician says “provocative clothing” made men “do things”.…... Read more
Are you mad as hell and not going to take it anymore?
A deranged TV anchor threatens to kill himself, then resurrects his career by ranting and raving on television, screaming his…... Read more
We must be clever to avoid being the dumb country
Far from being useless precursors to a life of burger flipping, Arts degrees actually provide students with a range of…... Read more
How I became a member of the ‘I’m not racist, but’ club
I almost wish I hadn’t written this column last week. I argued that Adelaide recruiter Matthew Rendell should not have…... Read more
Will the really offended people please stand up?
If only Wikileaker Julian Assange was in the Government and could leak the actual footage of these mysterious focus groups…... Read more
Wanted dead or alive?
Police wanted to capture Mohammed Merah alive, but in the end a sniper killed him as he jumped out of…... Read more
ICB: Poor widdle Tasers are just misunderstood
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit, a regular column that looks at deceit and disingenuousness, spin and fabrication. Now,…... Read more
Clive Palmer’s truth is really out there
Writer and activist Susan Sontag said: “I envy paranoids. They actually feel people are paying attention to them”. People were…... Read more
Football race row really not that black and white
Hands up anyone who has never said something that could sound racist. A joke, an anecdote, an off-the-cuff comment. Something…... Read more
When do we stop calling Tasers ‘non-lethal’?
Today’s weasel word award goes to the term ‘non-lethal’, frequently used to describe Tasers. It’s especially weaselly when the term…... Read more
Teachers that need to be taught a lesson
Dry ice. Wrong in so many ways. Wrong in an 80s dance floor sort of way. Wrong in a dodgy…... Read more
ICB: Playing heroes and villains with Kony 2012
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit. Today we’re looking at the super-viral Kony 2012 campaign by Invisible Children, a…... Read more
Are the Democrats dying or is it just a flesh wound?
Political parties with more than 500 members include the Australian Sex Party, the HEMP Party, the Shooters and Fishers Party,…... Read more
At least we can all agree that free speech is good…
Yumi Stynes had the right to parp out her little brain fart about Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith. We have the right…... Read more
When hard sell charities make it hard to give
Charities have moved from a modest Mary MacKillop model to a flashy, superficial Angelina Jolie one. Many are more mega…... Read more
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@AndrewCatsaras Agreed. Kills more people than AIDS. Yet tolerated. Meanwhile: Good Insiders piece again Andrew.
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Abbott’s crass logic: trash the Parliament in order save it
An email was sent to almost every politician in Australia this week saying that someone should cut off…
Our special forces don’t always need special treatment
We admire them, but we’re not entirely sure why. We allow them to operate in the shadows; we rarely…
A good holiday is about unrest, not rest
Like a fat full-stop, it lay in my hand. A small orange – not exactly fresh, but purchased anyway…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
Michael S says:
"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone
Change Up! says:
I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more
