Posts by BenWilson

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  • Legal Beagle: Three strikes (w/ updates),

    eh? serious? why?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: Three strikes (w/ updates),

    LOL Google News finds me this amusing gem. Emma's slip up is nothing compared to this

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: Three strikes (w/ updates),

    Indeed. Also, the idea of exile would perfectly serve the incapacitation criterion, but no one likes that idea any more, because being abroad just isn't as punishing as it may have been in the past.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Play Time,

    It's the secret of Ron Jeremy's success, that you wouldn't be able to pick him out of a lineup. A fundamental tenet of straight male porn is that the guy should not capture one iota of your attention. You're meant to be able to mentally substitute yourself in there, and that's waaay easier if the guy looks average (or even ugly) than if he has the form of a greek statue, after the Vandals have knocked the penis off and replaced it with a battle-strength cudgel.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: Three strikes (w/ updates),

    I wouldn't underrate retribution as a motive, personally. "Send you to a prison where you can't hurt anyone" is only half the story. The other half is "Where you will also get hurt yourself quite a lot, and where your days will be spent in the misery of deprivation that only prisoners can truly appreciate". If incapacitation were the only motive, you wouldn't hear such bitter complaints about the minor luxuries afforded to prisoners.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: Three strikes (w/ updates),

    Therefore the penalty is irrelevant

    Not much relevant to deterrence, for sure. Highly relevant to other concepts in punishment. Incapacitation. Retribution. Maybe even rehabilitation, if you are figuring that a longer term might be the only way to get through to some people who have already been tried on a shorter term.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: Three strikes (w/ updates),

    Seems like a classic case of Kiwis at work. They will overwhelmingly vote in a Government that differs from it's opponent in only quite minor ways, once you actually get down to nitty gritties. We bring in a law that sounds like a big change, but once the actual human beings that have to enact it get to work, fiddle with it, apply their instincts and training to it, you get something that's really quite a small change.

    It's one of the good things about NZ, IMHO. We get a right wing party that's actually centrist, and hard-right laws that are barely right-wing at all. It's a highly conservative system, rather than a radical one, and to me that's usually a sign of a functioning democracy.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Legal Beagle: Three strikes (w/ updates),

    Seriously though, how big is the deterrence and correction side of this law meant to be? To me it's so much more about protecting society, and, perhaps elements of 'seeing justice done' or even revenge. I think this way mostly because of the political dimension the initiators of the law are coming from, the political right, which has never been big on the idea of corrections and rehabilitation.

    Summary of this thought: This law is not aimed at the minds of criminals, who it considers to be lost causes. It's aimed at the society in which they are offending, which can be made happier and safer.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: High Noon,

    Can I suggest it would take a bit longer than 10 minutes to locate,said interlocutor user also:)

    So long as I get the 15c they owe me, it's worth the time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: High Noon,

    I just want to make interlocutor my word of the month, that's all :)

    Hey, I'll s92a u if you try it. All I have to do is demand Russell provide me with your IP (which he can refuse, or not even know), then I can approach your ISP to find out who you really are (which they can refuse, or not even know), then I can demand your disconnection (which they will almost certainly refuse, given you are a paying customer), or of your entire network if you are connecting from a workplace or institution (which they will certainly refuse, although they may threaten it, so as to get your network admin to come and kick your arse). If all these refusals fall through, I've got you on a hook for at least the 10 minutes it takes you to find another ISP. That'll teach you to use my word.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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