Posts by chris
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the, "allo, allo, allo, what's going on 'ere then?" kind of hat. The one that looks like a big tit with a nipple on the top.
log;
28/12/2009 20:14.Armagh/Gloucester: Stopped 4 geeks and a model with an open vessel. model emptied her Sol into rubbish bin. Situation neutralized. -
No, that would be silly Rich. We should make each law with clear reasoning, and long term consideration of potential societal reaction to that law. Furthermore, prioritizing that law and providing a clear and convenient method of policing it. Not to simply maintain the peace, but to create a more convivial and civil environment.
The very notion that police getting into happy innocent peoples' faces somehow benefits New Zealand, is decidedly old hat.
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Of course if you want to develop the populace's ability to skull fast before heading out the door, then this legislation is a surefire winner.
Corruption exists here. The whole reason for tipping it out is due to the confiscated alcohol being drunk by the police themselves in the square kiosk.
Customs used to throw the best Christams parties back in the day too!Out of interest, How many here have had cannabis confiscated and not been charged?
me, twice
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I don't see the point of laws that are not enforced. That encourages too much discretion in the police which leads to arbitrariness in the application of the law and the opportunity for corruption.
Hey Peter, I see unenforced laws as a kind of security measure, were someone committing an actual crime, the unenforced laws are an extra arrow in the authorities bow when charging someone for vandalism or something. Were a coffee shop to be under strong suspicion of fencing stolen goods, they could be more easily closed down.
It keeps the criminal element on their toes and innocents more weary of the line they they're crossing. In the case of group walking with open bottles, every individual would feel more of a sense of responsibility to behave knowing that any excess criminal act at that juncture may not simply entail charges being brought against them alone, but the entire open vesselled group. Oftentimes we're more likely to support our friends than uphold arbitrary laws in the throws of drunkenness.
It really comes down to whether we want people to feel a sense of social responsibility or simply just herd them through the yard.
I'm from NZ, where it was previously a non-issue. I've lived in China 7 years, where alcohol legal issues (including selling to minors) are pretty much non existent, due to the civil manner in which alcohol is used negating the necessity to ban open bottles. Correct me if I'm wrong Peter but the laws that exist in the countries or at least municipalities that you mentioned, are primarily due to drinking problems, violence etc, lack of public civility on the turps. So although you maintain it's civil, why the need for the law, if not to control the tanked barbarians wreaking havoc?
My issue is not so much with the law as the administration, I saw no street signs, and surely they don't cost much, but in this case, a cop car passed, drove 50 metres down the road, did a U-ey, drove 50 metres back, two officers in stab proof vests emeerged, and gave us the heavy act on a totally empty street, us just minding our own business. That's a waste of police time, petrol, money.
Again if that's the society New Zealand wishes to construct about itself, I have no issue, my main point was.
idyllic tourism destination par excellence.
but I wouldn't think of walking a street carrying an open bottle of alcohol.
I wouldn't think of not walking a street crrying an open bottle of alcohol. how much influence does a further 330mls of 4.7% beer being consumed en route to a bar really have on my otherwise intoxicated/non intoxicated state. I don't see that drink being here nor there. If i were going to bottle someone I could do more damage with an unopened bottle. Those police should have been stopping drunk drivers.
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Thanks for that Simon, the picture you paint portrays more brutal organizations than I've encountered here, but it could just be the wording, do you have much interaction with any of these groups (as authorities) or do they largely let you just go about your business?
I'm always glad when you write Chris, you write so well, you confirm truths I feel to be self evident but find it difficult to express.
But it seems to be increasingly rare to go to jail for expressing yourself
We hope so, and it certainly feels so, I know of two in the last 2 years, One a rug seller in Xin Jiang for talking to foreign media prior to the Games, and another a physics student in Beijing 2009 who started writing a series of extreme posts about Xin Jiang, was bailed into an unmarked van and diasappeared for 2 months....
and then reemerged, as they do, that extra bit clarified as to where they stand in relation to freedom of speech. The frequency of this stuff seems incredibly hard to gauge, as I only ever hear of these cases (which never make the local media) from people I know who know, Or overseas media, Beijing seems to be the last place to find much untoward.
As for John's post;
"“if they go so far as to block all Google services in China, I don’t even want to stay here anymore.“
makes me question why he's here. There are alternatives.
It has also occured to me that this could be one more step towards the Great Chinese Intranet. And this year has been so disappointing in that respect.
word.
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Telling and relevant info Simon. I got to reading about the Indonesian military after your last post on the topic, correct me if I'm wrong but the day to day military mandate of the TNI is also primarily maintaining internal security?
That Google would suddenly decide to put ethics ahead of money, Having engaged in inaccurate and broad censorship at the behest of the CCP for the last however many years, necessitates a fine-toothed reading between the lines.
My reckoning is the'd like to get youtube into the full length movie market (now it's all been tied up with advertising) a la tudou and youku, and are using Google as a bargaining tool to get youtube unblocked (among other issues).
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The Dutch, not being anal retentive wowsers (they exported those) are fine with that. Sure, it's illegal to wholesale weed, but the cops have many greater priorities
This style of insurance legislation doesn't seem to have caught on in N (to the letter of the law) Z much.
On a recent visit to Chch, our group of 5, 30+(aged) citizens , were stopped on otherwise empty streets (on the way to bar not 50 metres yonder) by police who informed us we needed to empty our open vessels or we would be arrested. Having lived offshore, I naturally assumed this kind of law was in place merely as a prosecution option against unruly hooligans, but New Zealand hasn't quite reached that plateau of civility. Or at least in this case the law is clearly designed by the Gov to keep the peace and clearly enforced by old gov to keep the alcohol companies turnover ticking.
Chch though.."How was New Zealand dude?"
- "Oh I got stopped by police and threatened with arrest if I didn't empty out my bottle of beer."
tourism destination par excellence.
Crime R US
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Same, And if it all goes to shit, you can at least enjoy the reruns
http://video.baidu.com/v?word=the+daily+show&ct=301989888&rn=20&pn=0&db=0&s=0&fbl=800
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So? Frankly I didn't find anything in that paper that was particularly sinister, or certainly nothing to indicate they were planning to utilise their 'overseas Chinese' as a forward offensive for military invasion.
Neither did I, sorry mate, my angle wasn't clear. I was responding to Tom's suggestion that the PLA would naturally drop their lucrative deals and adhere to whatever CCP edicts. I meant to draw attention to key phrases such as;
"semi-autonomous existence"
"the PLA became extensively involved in creating a business empire including companies in areas not normally associated with the military"
I see a case whereby 2 government officials on a stipend of $2000 a day worth of fine food and 美女 are going to have a hard job convincing high end army guys on a monthly salary of $50,000 that war is a better option than running KTV joints and brothels. ie that the fracture is significant enough that a call by the CCP to go to war would be met by some hearty resistance from the"military" (opposite to the US), but more so that the PLA's motives for engaging in actual warfare are almost nonexistant in light of the fact that it's been making billions for the last 20 years without any need whatsoever for military style invasion. Sorry for the lack of clarity there.
Simply that a War economy would not necessarily benefit an organisation that flourishes in a peacetime economy.
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However. The power structure of the US is hardly socialistic either. Haliburton and Dick Cheney anyone?
Replete with military invasions.