Posts by Alfie
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Polity: Saudi sheep: Misappropriating…, in reply to Russell Brown,
The Prime Minister's weird, mendacious Morning Report interview.
He holds the rest of us in contempt.
While listening to that interview this morning with Key endlessly repeating lies which have already been disproved, I pictured the man looking greyer and more tired than usual.
History will no doubt remember his government as one of the most corrupt in NZ's history. And Key really doesn't give a damn.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to David Tong,
But I'm very reluctant to call sentencing cases inconsistent without reading the sentencing decisions. Without doing that, we're flying blind.
We ordinary Joes have to rely on reported cases David. And there are dozens if not hundreds of examples where more serious cases have received much lighter sentences. Surely the public prosector with the meth habit represents a worse threat to society than Kelly van Gaalen? Yet he only received a minor fine and no jail time.
I've seen gang members receiving lesser sentences than this for similar breaches of the same law. What message does that send to society?
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Garrick Tremain in the ODT.
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Polity: Saudi sheep: Misappropriating…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Don't the words 'graft' and 'embezzlement' come to mind?
As do the words bribery, fraud and corruption.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
Think kauri tree in the Waitakere Ranges. Would the tree still be standing had the protest taken to the steps of Parliament?
Actually that issue has gone a bit sour. Back in March the landowners -- John Lenihan and Jane Greensmith -- wrote an open letter to Aucklanders saying that the tree would be saved. Hallelujah! Michael Tavares, the good guy who climbed and saved the kauri, came down and pleaded guilty to trespass. Deal done.
Or maybe not. Just a few months later the property developers seem to have reneged on their offer and have applied to have environmental restrictions on their three Titirangi properties lifted. Lenihan's submission to Auckland's Proposed Unitary Plan refers to "an illegal occupation and protest."
"If occupation and protest which included councillors, local board members and council staff had not occurred, then all vegetation would be removed and there would be no argument," he said.
Sorry for the deviation from an important subject.
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I think we all agree that the problem here is an unjust law, and the extremely poor application of that law by a judge who is out of touch with the real world.
I agree that a less strident prosecutor might have recommended a community-based sentence. However our collective disgust is better directed towards judge John McDonald in the first instance -- of course his hands weren't tied -- he needs to be called out on that fallacy.
But ultimately it's our lawmakers who merely whistle and look the other way in the face of a gross injustice. They are the people who can and should make a change.
Peter Dunne... let's hear from you.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
Catherine Gisler
When you click on Ms Gisler's profile it's completely blank. That surely tells you something.
The injustice of this sentence when compared with the police prosecutor who received a mere $450 fine for messing with meth, is mind boggling.
This is exactly the sort of case where NORML or ALCP should be stepping up to the plate, generating public support and perhaps providing legal support. Unfortunately both organisations manage to portray themselves as nothing more than stoners who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.
I wonder what Peter Dunne thinks about this case?
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I see Rachel Smalley's upset about Campbell getting the RNZ role. She's worried about gender imbalance and mentions Hosking & Henry amongst males dominating our airwaves. John Campbell is widely acknowleged to be one of NZ's top presenters, so why shouldn't RNZ take advantage of TV3's stupidity?
As a NatRadio listener I currently listen to Kathryn Ryan and Kim Hill more than any other presenters, presenting a somewhat personal gender imbalance. Having JC in the late afternoons will go some way to restoring that.
Maybe an easy solution to keep Ms Smalley happy would be to ditch Hosking & Henry from all media. There we go... I fixed it!
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Envirologue: Too Big to Fail – Why…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
off the grid...
I saw that the other night Ian and was so impressed I tracked down the architect who is doing some great zero energy work.
I must confess, I'm secretly musing with the idea of building a small off-grid home. Maybe 10kWh solar, a couple of small windmills, battery storage and a backup generator, just in case. The technology is there now and it doesn't cost a fortune to build a warm, dry home which uses no external energy.
Think of it as a retirement plan. ;-)
