Posts by Rich of Observationz
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Hard News: This time it's Syria, in reply to Chris Waugh,
I think the idea is that it's rather better that they have the "nuclear option" of a veto than the actual "nuclear option".
While it's not the greatest of systems, it has thus far stopped an American army slugging it out with a Russian one, and the loser deciding to blow up the world.
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Incidentally, I believe that in the UK all motoring offences (even parking) are criminal, but are just dealt with administratively via a fixed penalty in most cases. The "infringement offence" thing is an NZ innovation.
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Hard News: This time it's Syria, in reply to Rob S,
I don't think one can really apply today's standards to the 17th century.
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So the UK parliament has refused to assent to UK miitary action. That's pretty unprecedented.
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Graeme: if I ever get accused of a complicated and serious crime, will you act for me?
I would disagree on the grounds that:
- Based on the documents released, the police and GCSB appear to have had a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude to Dotcom's residence status. Given that it was a core part of GCSB's legal unpinning that they did not spy on NZ residents, this failure could be said to amount to a criminal intent to operate outside this part of their charter.- Civil liability is an effective deterrent against wrongdoing by an individual or a business owner/operator. Against a public body where the taxpayer will pay the damages, not so much. Further, it is unfortunately not (especially in the case of the police) regarded as a serious employment matter when an officer exposes a government body to such liability, so those involved would be likely to move on with their careers unsullied.
- In an environment where government officers see their loyalty to the Anglophone security apparat as more important than obedience to niggles of NZ law, there needs to be a robust system of investigation. What happens if a future government were to restrict GCSB and their officers decided to ignore those laws and bug away regardless? Should they be able to avoid prosecution on grounds of an ostensible lack of intent?
- I find it somewhat hard to believe the facts in this case, which appear to present the minimal amount of transgression compatible with the documented facts Dotcom's lawyers were able to extract.
When we eventually elect a more progressive government, we need an independent enquiry into all of this with the ability to dig fully into the facts, make public anything that doesn't compromise a current investigation or impact privacy and initiate prosecutions as appropriate.
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Somewhere between 250,000 and two million people died after Britain withdrew from India/Pakistan in 1946. Should they have stayed on as colonists in an attempt to avert this? Would it have done any good?
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Legal Beagle: Fact Check: New Bail Laws, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
I notice there are submissions called for on a review of Standing Orders.
Is it worth submitting? I'd have several suggestions:
- removal of financial veto
- supermajority required for urgency
- a ban on bringing any kind of prop into the parliamentary chamber -
If people are upset with a future government denying Sky City compensation, they could always pay the money out and then levy a tax on casino operators to claw it back. Governments have the absolute right to choose what taxes to levy, right?
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It'd be much better if we (as in the 'western' states) disengaged:
- stop playing sides off against each other - Assad is largely entrenched because the US gave him support as a bulwark against whatever - see also Saddam and the Taliban- reduce usage of oil, which is the only thing that gives neanderthal zealots like the Saudis any influence
- stop funding and encouraging Israel, who give every Arab and Muslim a justifiable excuse for extremism. I strongly suspect they also tacitly encourage chaotic dictatorships amongst their neighbouring states as preferable to strong democratic states that would stand up to them
About all NZ can do is avoid any active engagement and reduce our fossil fuel usage. Maybe scrap those motorways and build some more wind farms?
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Hard News: Political Idol, or whatever…, in reply to BenWilson,
I would imagine that the implosion of ACT and UF may have led to some people not voting or even voting for a leftist party.