Wednesday, December 31, 2003

Is Cannabis prohibition causing the P epidemic?

See this article in the forum.

New Zealand News - NZ - P changes threaten bottleneck

P Crackdown Overwhelms Court

Judge Dame Sian Elias has told the Justice Minister of a concern that a police crackdown up P would place pressure upon the High Court's workload. Due to the reclassification of P as a Class A drug, cases involving dealers of the drug end up being charged in the High Court. 200 additional cases per annum are expected to add to the workload, an increase in the number of judges and resources could cost $10 million.

See New Zealand News - NZ - P changes threaten bottleneck and discuss the P epidemic on our discussion forum

Listener article - The running man
by Alistair Bone

Will Ahmed Zaoui, despite being granted refugee status, ultimately be the victim of political calculations?

Despite having no serious charges laid against his name, Ahmed Zaoui has so far spent eight months in solitary confinement under maximum security in Paremoremo jail. He has been locked up since arriving at Auckland International Airport last December, confined for 23 hours a day with the 30 most dangerous men in New Zealand as his neighbours. He hasn't seen nature or his wife and children for nine months.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

New Zealand Crime Statistics

Here are the NZ Crime statistics for 1999 - 2002.

Moscow court orders Russia's richest man to remain jailed another three months

Russian Prisoner of the State

The Russian billionaire being held on suspicion of fraud in Moscow is widely considered to be politically, rather than legally motivated.

See Moscow court orders Russia's richest man to remain jailed another three months for details of the case.

Whatever happened to the leaders of Enron and Worldcom in the Land of the Free? I doubt that the State arrested them until they were found guilty of something. Whether they then managed to find a jail cell may be debatable but Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the embattled former chief of Russia's largest oil company, has been detained since Oct. 25.

Prosecutors have extended the pretrial investigation until March 31st. The former executive has not been charged although killings are alleged.

Sunday, December 21, 2003

Special Kbu

Special K - Danger

No, not the breakfast cerial, which is probably very good for you, unless you pile on the sugar. Sugar is very bad for you and children brought up on sugar may well be "in training" for a life of drug dependency as they try and regulate the resultant highs and lows.

Those who want something harder may be out there buying E or Speed but in fact getting Ketamine. The danger with Ketamine is that an overdose can render the user into a state of semi unconsciousness, known as a "K-Hole". It is probably like going unconscious and it is that state where sexual preditors may take over.

Trouble is that people will not remember much about it or what happened. If you were to take Ketamine, it is rather essential to employ a minder who does not take anything. The same goes for LSD or other mind bending substances like GBH. Drugs like E (which Ketamine often replaces) do not tend to disable the person taking it. Speed just gives you an edgy time and ends up killing you and your brain.

Marijuana has no major side effects, but some people may faint (the media call that "collapse") if they take too much. Unlike a K Hole which lasts for hours, this is easily slept off. There are safer ways to party this holiday season.

Detective Inspector Gary Knowles, of the police national drug intelligence, said ketamine was one of the drugs "that for some reason has become popular again". Probably the big busts the police have achieved this year on other drugs make what is left more popular.

This points to a demand level that is not prevented by regulation or enforcement. It points to a culture that uses drugs to make believe that it has a good time.

A drug drought typically hits during the (holiday) season of high demand, and then kids who want to party stuff anything down their throats in an attempt to fit in with the scene, or an attempt to "feel fantastic". Party drugs are a culture that exists that provides a market that the law ignores to the peril of our children.

stuff.co.nz

Friday, December 19, 2003

Zaoui High Court Ruling re Evidence

Zaoui Ruling

In a 60 page ruling, High Court Judge Hugh Williams ruled that the Ahmed Zaoui has access to hitherto secret documents. In this landmark human rights test case, the Judge's ruling means that Zaoui is entitled to a summary of the secret information the SIS claims to have on him.

The Security Intelligence Service is headed by the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, who is taking advice on the Government's next move.

This case is a landmark Human Rights ruling - as it establishes the right of an accused person to have access to evidence against them. In New Zealand at least.

New Zealand Press - Herald
New Zealand Press - stuff.co.nz

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

STUFF : NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Strip Club Law Change

The Government has proposed amendments to the Crimes Act that would penalize Strip Club owners who exploit under age workers.

For

Enough is enough. Liberalising the laws on prostitution is law-making purely in the adult domain where certain toleration of sexual expression is well established in law. That someone should quote those laws to apply economic force over a child in Strip Clubs is a violation of the child's human rights to be cared for as a child. There ought to be no reason for a child to prostitute itself and that the law should move to protect children is a Politically Correct policy motive at work.

Everyone has an undeniable right to be a child and require guidance of one's elders as it is a right to be a parent and have a say in what one's children experience. Cases of violation of children's rights are not a matter of what is fair for one or other parent - or any other party. Children may be protected from cults, and they should by the same logic be protected from an industry that best remain an Adult-only domain. And people that attend are not enticed into child pornography. The onus is also on the owner not to criminalise his patrons.

It is good to test the law to make it work. But it is not good to provide employment to the underaged in the sex industry, however you look at it.

Against

Laws should create a frame work that humans operate within. Laws can not define every individual. We all develop ourselves according to our own direction in life and who are we to say that something is right for someone else?

If the law makes it hard or impossible for the girl to find work when she clearly wants to leave home at the tender age of 15 do we want to criminalise her and any schmuck that offers her a break?

It is quite obvious that regulations and the sex industry go hand in hand. But existing laws are clear on what the boundaries are, and if 15 year old girls want to dance in a nightclub as a career, and a club owner perceives a demand for it, then a strip club provides a venue that is licenced and at least safe and predictable enough. Existing law defines the boundaries clearly enough.

What do you think?

Article STUFF : NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Roadside Drug Testing

In theory, it sounds like a promising way to reduce the road toll. In reality it may not be that important. Roadside drug testing of drivers is being considered for introduction as cannabis has been found in the blood of a few bad drivers and the penalty for causing death in one case was just two months jail. If for example the driver had alcohol in his blood, legal culpability would be more established.

We believe that anyone getting behind the wheel of a car has a responsiblity to control it well. Bad driving is bad driving no matter what excuse or rationale explains it. And making laws based on individual cases is foolish in the extreme. How many years of police time will be spent detecting the few idiots who get behind the wheel with impared judgement - time and resources that may be better expended keeping drivers cool and moderate.

Will other factors that relate to misjudgement at the wheel be ignored as there is no crime to punish - for example if someone is fired, or has an argument with their spouse? Both can cause resentment and anger to boil the blood and that anger causes driving impairment. If they then smack into a driver who has traces of a cannabis in their blood, an established legal culpability may punish the wrong party.

How many of us approach a police breath check with some trepidation and for that time drive unnaturally well? And are those the people who may then react to the big brother approach with a sense of recklessness in subsequent drinking? Road side checks appear to work for the majority of drivers.

The application of the law is a dual edged sword and consequences of poorly thought out laws are many and vast.

Mind you, with such new laws, they can get boy racers under the influence of adrenaline or shoving too much testosterone into their exhaust pipes as well as the mad P maniacs before they committ drug fueled attrocities.

Sugar also causes manic behaviour in many children, so perhaps a blood-sugar level check would also be in order. No, I am sorry sir, but you are at fault - it was the second Snickers bar that took you way over the limit.

The sheer number of cars on the road is also a factor. Travelling at non-peak times is a way to reduce driver stress and fatigue. Road rage, unexpressed, is also deadly. Day in and day out traffic queues as holiday makers all converge at the same intersection on the same day could be avoided and that would also improve driver conduct.

STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Sunday, December 14, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Sentencing judge urges drastic measures on P

Hard Sentencing for P violence

A High Court judge called for "drastic" measures to combat the P scourge and sentenced an armed robber, aquitted by the jury on a count of murder, to 18 1/2 years for armed robbery. Dean James McDonald Shedden was told he must spend at least 10 years behind bars.

Justice Harrison said the evidence showed that methamphetamine led to prolonged periods of sleeplessness, confusion, anxiety and ultimately to "random acts of extreme and senseless violence".

Auckland Barrister Marie Dyhrberg represented the defence and a jury decision found Shedden not guilty of murder. His jail sentence reflects multiple charges related to the armed robbery.

See New Zealand News - NZ - Sentencing judge urges drastic measures on P

New Zealand News - Technology - Computer game banned for repetitive extreme violence

Video Game - Censored

A video game has been censored in New Zealand for too much violence. The game, Manhunt, rewards players who inflict the most grisley deaths with closeups of victims suffering. Freedom of Speech is a basic human right. Denying everyone the opportunity to be influenced by this game for its possible influence on any one (not just gullible teenagers), the Chief Censor, Bill Hastings sounded shaken by his exposure to the frightening game.

New Zealand News - Technology - Computer game banned for repetitive extreme violence

SmileCity New Zealand

Blame discussion

Steven Williams pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of Coral Burrows after he spent five nights without sleep binging on P. People react with shock and want to spread the blame to the mother, to CYFS, to society and there are those who say that it is stupid to blame the drug, P, for the man's deeds, usually also beying for the death penalty.

The man pleads guilty and therefore he admits it was by his own agency and will that the girl's life was taken. Blame belongs with him, not others. There is no need to question the mother. One has to respect her dignity and let her get on with her life.

It is hard for those on the outside to enter into and judge the actions of others. Or that it is too easy to do so without understanding the problems the mother faced or to crticise her relationship with the accused before the murder.

Her main objective was to bring up kids. It is not her responsibility to inflict justice upon her boyfriend. How may of us would stand behind our closest even if the police were at the door?

"88 Convictions" - for what? If he was convicted of violent crimes one hopes that the mother understood. It is also likely that the criminal Williams was incredibly overbearing and threatening to her on a day to day basis.

The accused murderer pleaded guilty. There is no reason to find blame elsewhere - it is his fault no matter the lesser failings of others, be broke the essential boundary between civilised behaviour and that we wish to be protected from.

The role that P played was to destroy the value the man had. That destruction is a long slow and gradual process. Speed addiction leads to brain damage. P does it more quickly.

Discussion:
SmileCity New Zealand

Business News - Brochure wars get approval

A judgement went against Mitre 10 when their brochures were used with orange stickers outside Benchmark. The claim was that Benchmark was damaging their trade mark.

That claim was dismissed. But it remains that if Benchmark were printing materials with Mitre 10's logo, there may a case to answer for copyright (or theft of brochures) as they would have had to print the brochures or obtain them somehow.
Business News - Brochure wars get approval

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

STUFF : NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

The Folly of Self Defence

Robert Charles de Bruin along with others has been found guilty of importing ecstasy with a "street value of $12 million". He was caught importing 36,000 pills valued at $2 million (each pill retailing for $55) found in a customs seizure, earlier discharged at earlier trials. The drug was hidden in furniture imported from Zimbabwe.

The prosecution asked the jury to consider that the method of importation was also used in six earlier similar shipments.

De Bruin's conducted his own colourful defence with a dramatic story of gun running for the white minority government of Ian Smith as the source of a large quantity of cash, namely $443,000 in used $20 used in paying for a house.

Choosing to represent himself has cost the man dearly as the jury were asked to infer that the earlier shipments of furniture also contained drugs from figures written in his diary to the cash paid for the house.

Although it is a choice that an accused person may make, it is often not wise to forgo a proper defence. Taking it into one own hands brings with it the stress of being accused and it certainly sounds this way as the Crown cast doubts on De Bruin's character by getting ex-wives to testify that he had not been in the army.

See : STUFF : NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Human Rights

In the UN declaration of Human Rights

Article 9 : No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest detention or exile.

Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by and independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charges against him.

Article 14:
1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN.

Mr Zaoui has a right to seek asylum unless it is proven in court that he has committed non-political crimes.

He was subjected to a 7 hour interrogation after a 14 hour flight and not advised of his rights to a lawyer or given a proper interpreter. If the SIS did not conduct their investigations with due regard to the law, then they need to review their practices as it may also fail to detect real terrorists at the border; with NZ earning a reputation as a repressive state and that may in turn attract terrorism.

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Zaoui Interview found

The Security Intelligence Service suddenly unearthed a second recording of the audio of the seven hour marathon interview. Zaoui's lawyers have asked for the video tape but were then told by the SIS that an hour of it was "missing".

In a new letter to the lawyers it was revealed that the second audio recording was made that covers all but two minutes while tapes "were being changed".

Zaoui has been in prison for a year during which time his refugee status has been confirmed. He arrived in New Zealand requesting political asylum. He has been held in custody under new terrorism legislation ever since.

Mr Zaoui's lawyers have expressed concern that the Inspector General of Security and Intelligence, Laurie Grieg, reponsible for the security risk certificate review appeared to also not be aware of the missing evidence.

See: STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website
Fortuin likens Zaoui jailing to apartheid

Zaoui case

Justice vs Paranoia

A discussion on a popular NZ bulletin board SmileCity reveals a general ignorance of facts and plenty of assumptions about this important test case.

Ahmed Zaoui is in prison and has been held for a year because he arrived in NZ claiming refugee status, that has since been granted.

Monday, December 08, 2003

STUFF : NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

CYFS Failures

A 15 year old girl escaped CYFS care and protection to work as a stripper in Nelson.

MP Nick Smith said :
"It's not good enough - I don't care how many mealy-mouthed words we have from the department or the police: we can't have 15-year-old girls stripping in this country, we've got to fix it."
Police should be given the power to prosecute club owners who "exploited" young women, he said. The Prostitution Reform Bill, passed by Parliament in June, had "given an invitation for these scumbags to exploit young women".

We question Dr Smith's judgement in politicising the case. It is a failure to contain an out of control teenager, and not the Prostitution Reform Bill that is at fault. And sexual activity with a minor is a chargable offence.

Strip clubs are licenced and if they employ under aged girls, the licence may be revoked. If that happens, then another scumbag who does not abuse children can run the joint.

The Prostitution Reform Bill allows a clearer definition of what is right and wrong. It is not a licence for child abuse.

Dr Smith may however be right that residential schools may form part of a real solution for the young people who are out of control or need help or come from broken homes.

CYFS requires more than good leadership. It requires a clear and unequivocal message and mission statement. It is here to help families. Now it is time for it to get organised.

See STUFF : NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

New Zealand News - NZ - Clark demands answers over lost Zaoui tape

Lost Evidence

The NZ Prime Minister questions how the Zaoui evidence is lost. Auckland Barrister Marie Dyhrberg questioned what appears to be a serious breach of justice in this case.

MP Matt Robson said: "I believe also that we need now to disprove the suspicion that external powers, particularly France with its close relations with the murderous Algerian regime, are pressuring New Zealand on this matter."

Zaoui was quizzed for seven hours by the police and the SIS after arriving as a refugee in New Zealand.

Marie Dyhrberg says anyone detained in New Zealand has the right to be told they are being interviewed. She said there is no discretion for the police to make a judgement that someone doesn't merit the Bill of Rights.

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Coming clean later doesn't wash claims Zaoui's lawyer

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Govt reacts to 'explosion' in child porn on internet

Child Porn Penalties

The gut reaction of any Kiwi to news of "child porn" is one of extreme rejection and disgust. It is one of those nasty subjects that simply must be talked about in order that this evil sickness is recognised for what it is. It is a criminal empire enslaving and making objects of people to turn a profit. That the possession of digital images leads to jail is supposed to send a message to would be child pornographers and put them off enterting the business.

These abusers are not known for sensitivity to market conditions or public opinion. Child porn is too late on the chain of abuse. It is a record of something that has already happened. Charging the consumer does not work in policing cannabis. By the time they find the pictures, it is already far too late. The Government would be better to spend money persuing the sources of child abuse. Severe penalties for any support of such networks certainly sends a message, but it is not a good tactic to fill jails with sex abuse victims and hapless fools. It is much better to channel them into therapy using existing ACC programmes.

Anybody who abuses the vulnerable should not be celebrated in our world. I would rather read about how the police busted a gang of child pornographers than a 21 year old with his stupid fetish. Let's face it, the internet explosion of porn between consenting adults is a result of human behaviour, technology and healthy capitalism.

Child molestation is a serious disease that destroys people's lives. Make it safe for the victims of child sexual abuse and put the makers of child porn in the dock and behind bars. The internet has brought to light potential abusers but the law needs to jail those who will hurt other people.

See: New Zealand News - NZ - Govt reacts to 'explosion' in child porn on internet

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Drug Info

A large number of young people at any time may ingest pills or "white powder" drugs. Many are popular in the dance party rave scene that is a "mating ground", and therefore carries many obligatory social interactions. One of these may involve drug taking. The law sees drug distribution as a serious offence as politicians seek votes from the majority who are frightened by a common threat of death that surrounds modern day "magic potions". The young people taking drugs are more savvy to the scene than their parents, but assumed knowledge is as dangerous as hidden ignorance.

Drugs are generally bad for you on a number of counts:

They are illegal
Some of them will create a dependence upon its continued use
Some of them will create conditions that physically harm your body

If two more more of these conditions are present, the drug is not something you want to rely upon for your good feelings.

Blanket drug laws are evidentally disrespected by so many, that it becomes important to educate about these factors as they relate to drugs. Not only for those who risk these factors, but for those who decide how that tide of use is regulated. When the law does not make sense the masses ignore the law. Legislators are forced to take this into account and laws thus evolve around the natural behaviour and reactions we have. When this fails to work, social chaos results.

Declaring any drug use is social chaos is to say we live, now, in a state of perpetual war in the comfort of our own homes. This sounds a little absurd but it is no less absurd than spending more fighting cannabis than metamphetamine.

These links open a new page so you can compare the negative effects for three drugs often confused with each other.

Speed Info
Ecstasy Info
Ketamine Info

Ecstasy is what most young people buying pills in night clubs think that they are swallowing, and in most cases, Ecstasy (MDMA) causes no damage as it passes through and douses your brain with all its serotonin, releasing the dam, emptying the happiness reservoir for one night of super fun. The payment is usually a sharp bout of depression but the brain recovers. Serious consequences are relatively rare. You are more likely to get run over by a double decker bus (and that does happen, too). E is not habit forming, except that it exists as a dance culture. E is not very harmful to the body.

Ketamine is often passed off as Ecstasy or taken when no Ecstasy is available. It is not that harmful under controlled conditions. If you drink alcohol with it, you may have very severe reactions. You may also go into a K-hole - a dark warm and cuddly place that may not be much fun at a rock concert. Ketamine can damage you if you take too much or in a bad combination.

Speed is the most dangerous and stupid drug of the lot, simply put, it destroys the body that takes it, and is so very habit forming as its effect reduces over time even when you take more, and more and more. Eventually, speed damages the brain and the nervous system. This is the drug that burns out the brains and promise. P is a type of speed that is smoked and although it may seem great at the time, leads to rapid addiction.

When you buy a pill how do you know if it is MDMA or something that may have effects you did not seek? You simply do not. This chart shows a broad variety of pills passed as Ecstasy and submitted for analysis.

Monday, November 24, 2003

British Columbians busted in New Zealand

Sunday, November 23, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Accomplices share blame under common intent law

You don't have to pull the trigger

Recent convictions for murder and manslaughter were given by jury due to the "Law of Parties". This means that if you and your mates do over a service station with an expectation that violence may be involved, you could be charged with the most serious crimes committed by your group.

This law could cause a miscarriage of justice, but it would appear that in this case, it was more than justified:

Falealii gave evidence for the Crown, admitting that he was a cold-blooded killer.

But he claimed Samoa and Johansson schooled him in the art of armed robbery, gave him the gun, fed him the drug methamphetamine and drove him to and from the hold-ups, telling him to shoot anyone who gave him trouble.

Should offenders or potential offenders now be concerned that their mates may land them in jail even if they have not groomed an offender to kill.

We believe so, the earlier conviction of a getaway driver in the RSA triple murder, of manslaughter, when he did not even enter the building, indicates that culpability may attach itself to the conspiracy stage of events rather than the commission stage.

Big brutal psychotic murderers high on P may form unresolvable arguments at the time the crime is being planned. Domination and abuse are normal for such "leaders" who may involve a weaker person on a venture they have no control over.

See: New Zealand News - NZ - Accomplices share blame under common intent law

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Arrest of Customs Agent

Double Agent

Internal systems at Customs has led to one of their own being charged with importing metamphetamine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

New Zealand imigration was already subject to a fairly ferocious regime of inspection to maintain boundaries to foreign insects. Fines of $100,000 welcome those who flout NZ's algricultural regulations. An invasion of Painted Apple Moth resulted in months and months of aerial pesticide sprayings over Auckland suburbs. That underlines the effort New Zealand puts into protecting its borders. This also means that drug importers face an active customs inspection regime. Dogs sniffed every bit of luggage before Sept 11th.

The 26 year old officer pleaded guilty. He may have had some idea how precise and damning the evidence would be if he was caught. He must have had nerves of steel to work as a customs agent and a drug smuggler at the same time.

See:
NZ City

Michael Jackson still doesn

Innocent, until considered creepy

Trial by media is not uncommon at Michael Jackson's level. Sure he could sue every single instance where the media imply he is guilty of a felony for damages but giving his media spotlight over to sex allegations is a mistake and Mr Jackson knows that.

If Michael Jackson is guilty of crimes the forensic team will face challenges collecting evidence due to his meticulous demands. It follows that charges either are brought, or his name be considered cleared. If he has offended in any way it is perhaps insanity to believe one would get away with it after watching a few episodes of CSI.

He can now get the best treatment the state can afford, under the spotlight of media inspection. Oh, its California. Would a Gubernatorial pardon help?

It is a chilling thought that the obsession any number of fans may have and how they reflect his own iconography may provide evidence that seals an undeserved fate for a man who pushed sexuality as deep into culture as Marylin Munroe. Her death was a suicide but her life was creating art.

That Michael Jackson could be a pro bono case is disturbing.

See Michael Jackson still doesn't get it - MSNBC

Sunday, November 16, 2003

New Zealand Sports News - - He's no terrorist, says Zaoui's wife

Political Prisoner?

Ahmed Zaoui, a democratically elected (in 1991) MP of Algeria has been in jail in New Zealand for the last 11 months. He seeks asylum from the government that removed the democratically elected government. The trouble is that Lianne Dalzell, the Immigration Minister has received intelligence that is troubling to her, as she has no way of validating it, that brands this professor of theology, and muslim moderate, as a terrorist. He fled his country 10 years ago and Algeria has been bloodied by civil war after a military coup deposed the popularly elected Government.

The branding of terrorist is the new McCarthyism. If someone is Islamic, has a thick beard or turban, the western mind is being conditioned to pre-judge that person. Post 9/11 our fear has placed people under suspicion that normally we would extend a hand to, and help. Humanity benefits by acts of grace. Humanity is harmed when fear takes over.

As a status 'terrorist' is a hard one to prove. When a freshly elected governnment, there as a choice of the people of the land, is deposed by the military, and civil war breaks out, the enemy can now be branded as 'terrorists'. During the cold war they were called "spys" who worked for "smersh" and hunted in fiction by James Bond (and the CIA in reality). Spreading fear and paranoia distorts democracy. We are cowed into selecting leaders prepared to kill with decisive intent.

Now we go after Isalmic extremists. The branding of anyone based on their race or appearance is prejudice. When our government reacts only to the secret whispers of intelligence and not courts of law, we lose our sense of democracy and justice for all.

Saturday, November 15, 2003

Death in Detention

Home Detention Death

P brings death. It brings death if it is used in prison and it brings death if it is used or manufactured at home while under detention.

MP Ron Mark attempts to blow whistles about anything "the NZ taxpayer" has a right to know, and with all the expertise of reactionary views formed by reading newspapers, to decide the best way to deal with delicate, difficult issues.

Meantime, Ron Mark's boss, Winston Peters, is pushing for referenda to give the NZ public a say in the decisions that matter. The trouble is, that popular opinion is not always correct, and reliance on it for issues that require a complex combination of medical expertise, criminal law, and social issues rather than a rash summarial response in the media, is rule by the lowest common denominator.

And locking up hopelessly addicted drug addicts seems attractive. Sentencing all drug addicts to prison has unfortunate effects. One of these is to hook them into sources of supply that tend, by the fact that they are in prison for it, to be criminal.

It would be more effective for treatment in the community and connecting the ex-addict to a life that fulfills them. Punishment for what is a medical condition may make matters worse.

When that ex-newsreader was given home detention the media went on and on about privilege for the clean cut boy. The man that died of an overdose was proof that diversion applies even with "gang members". Those connections were maintained and would have been in prison for him. The man lost his life. Society lost little. The system did not fail him, he failed himself.

Why change a system that works for those who want to reintegrate because of the failure of one person who could not control his addiction? Because of prejudice. And why pass laws because of the stink that a minor player in parliament can kick up in the media? If we had a referenda controlled system, it seems we would.

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Reports into girls' deaths find fault with CYF

CYFS - Dysfunctional Dept

"The commissioner's investigation found a "fragmented approach" towards caring for the children."

CYFS has an organisational structure anomoly that makes little sense in terms of servicing its clients. Parents and children. Good case workers are in short supply. Even when excellent case workers are on the case, there are factors that make it more difficult for the parent to unstand how to benefit their children with CYFS. One of these factors is that each agency operates upon its manifesto and each one contacts the parents.

Now that sounds alright but when parents are experiencing the highly stressful family situation - the type of situation that gets CYFS called in - learning how to deal with it may not be an option. The parents, having to deal with persons from Youth Justice, social workers, mental health professionals, the police, laywers,. teachers, parents and friends is more stressful than it would be if there was just one or two professionals making contact instead of six of them.

Ever since CYFS New Zealand News - NZ - Reports into girls' deaths find fault with CYF: "These were forwarded to a women's refuge but not to CYF as police decided there were no immediate safety concerns. "

Monday, November 03, 2003

New Zealand Herald - Latest News

P - How its done ... Series 1

The first step to seting up a P operation is to use a gun and hold up a pharmacy. Just down the road some guy walks into a pharmacy and using a weapon that could kill a person in just a moments decision, he sticks this weapon in your face and says "hand over the cash you ... " with language that has you gagging for air, and his hot breath is in your eyes and his friends start emptying the locked up cabinet of pseudoepherdrine cold pills with hand-held mini-axes and sawn-off iron-pipes making short work of your carpentry. The reving of the little black motor carried them all off in a whisker and a harsh minute later the cops arrived...

Wait a minute, it just happened, here, just down the road. Don't answer the door to any strange callers, honey. Lock the doors. This is real life.
New Zealand Herald - Latest News

New Zealand News - NZ - CYF head quits after bad review

CYFS Head Rolls

The criticised head of CYFS Jackie Pivac has resigned two weeks after reading the writing on the wall. Her organisation, that undertakes work vital to the future of many kids that may not otherwise have a chance to survive in society, is badly organised. That is not to say that its function is flawed, but its organisation form has allowed it to be staffed with a variety of problems ranging from those who do the work of others to those who fail to do very much very quickly. The backlog is unacceptable at any level and strong uncompromising management is necessary to bring it about.

When it takes two weeks for an individual to fall on their sword and many painful months of difficulty in such a vital aspect of Government as care for kids in trouble, then perhaps the Minister should also consider her own future. Freshly activated National opposition spokesperson, Katherine Rich claims that the Government seeks to make the resigned head of the service into a scape goat. She is new at the game, but may come to realise that it is important to evolve new functions in depts and personnel attrition from the top down is sometimes the best move. Government Minister Ruth Dyson supported Ms Pivac's desire to "put the wider interests of the department first", but also praised her "enormous contribution".

Wait a minute. This is baby and bath water stuff. Jackie Pivac has build a microcosm that does good for some and yet serves other too slowly. When the paperwork is all out the window cost centres and returns are not understood and projects bleed money from each other. Poor management does not help. We suspect Jackie Pivac is a brilliant people person who has created a service that does good, but who has the same disrespect many of us have for vehicle log books or speed cameras, and failed to adminstrate a Government Department. Not bureaucratic enough.

Government Department need to be accountable to the public so accurate documentation is more than vital. If a hospital can do it, so can the department that helps find foster parents for kids who need them .

New Zealand News - NZ - CYF head quits after bad review

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Thousands locked out of schools

Perils of Commericalised Education

Criminality is the converse of Education. One thrives in the absence of the other.

Education advances humanity, as we discover, invent or develop new things, we train our children to master them.

Crime tends to advance as skilled people fall out of education or employment into limbo. Society protects Mr Average Unskilled with the social cushion of Welfare. Criminals may attempt to abuse the system and claim welfare when also earning money from crime. Welfare prevents those without resources from resorting to crime to eat.

The closure of this school is particularly sad. Started by an enterprising young woman that "the system" offered little to, it was probably too successful. Big fish tend to get caught in nets. The students that have had their courses interrupted probably are left with a sense of abandonment as they were locked out by the receivers. The government would do well to keep the school operating as a success story of individual effort.

State responsibility and control (of some things) is at least consistent. While the USSR failed to exploit natural resources to achieve economic stability, it did harvest some of the finest in ballet, film and the arts and created a more robust space exploration technology. There is something to be said for slowing progress and stemming the need to highlight the antics of the very very rich. The first we heard of this school was its closure. In the meantime we are bombarded by Government propaganda about the benefits of Genetic Modification, technology that could wreak NZ's farming economy (or, help it. What the heck is Government doing taking a punt with our main source of funds?)

It is a dangerous thing to put large numbers of people out of work. The criminals who used to steal the petty cash now satisfy their magpie addiction by breaking into houses while the gentle become legions of landscape gardeners, accepting but never quite able to reconcile why they were let go.

Education is the right that progress demands. Education is sacrosanct in human society. That a Government Dept screwed the business by not allowing it the funding to deliver to 3000 students (cap it at 600) meant that the major client was unable to be provided with the faciliities.

So while the NZ Government endangers schools in New Zealand the crime rate is rising.

Meantime, the crime rate going down in New York

Our hypothesis is that economic activity/assistance was suddenly available and much poverty crime became less necessary. Households of food thieves now had food on the table and could get back to the family business. The kids now go to schools that are being rebuilt. That kind of thing.

By privatising education, NZ has managed to put people at risk while exposing most to better technology and higher costs.

And through Government assistance, New York enjoys some hiatus from social crime.

See also:

School Closure, background

Friday, October 24, 2003

rightnow

Need to feel a little better about the world?

Watch this, right now.

CYFS

The Structural Faultline

The CYFS service has been given a reprieve so that the budgets for servicing the needs of 2000 kids on the waiting list can be organised and processed.

Indications are that pumping money into the service may or may not help it survive in its current form. It has to address key issues so that it evolves with society rather than against it.

A service that engages with an intimate level of personal intrusion as that that has to take children from the multicultural families of Auckland. These are the children who are being abused in the home, the children who are going off the rails, the kids who sell P to other kids, the kids who break into people's homes, the kids that re-enact the violence witnessed in nappies between warring parents.

These are the kids that require a Nanny State to step in and give a chance to break the cycle of violence or the cycle of drug abuse or criminality that has some families by the short and curlies.

The CYFS is there to step in on behalf of the child. Every case is urgent.

If such a body is established with a funding budget, on good old socialist ideals, and that budget includes a consideration for staff training and development. Like any Government funded scheme it is subject to razor gang ruthless budget cuts, even when the Government is in surplus, and this means that the kids take priority over the staff development programme and pretty soon society out evolves the dept that is supposed to be leading it.

Government funding lands up being a cake that makes everyone hungry. The motives are not to invest and expand as there are no competitors vying for the business. Social workers are trained but the organisation needs to learn how to evolve itself. It needs to be able to link its productivity to its results.

Thursday, October 23, 2003

111 Million injections

111 Million Injections

We complain when a Government does nothing, but fronting $111 Million to save at-risk kids is a few steps in the right direction. The Government is there to think not just throw money at a problem.

People are not informed of all the circumstances of the department and assume all is in hand. Why was a management called "dysfunctional" in a ministerial report? The problem may in fact be a long term hiring problem that has seen a department not able to place adequate staff to address the burgeoning problem some have with children. And it is not just abusive or negligent parents or children who are at risk in the home that CYFS attempts to address as a department. The real question of course in our minds is how a department that only deals with severe problem clients is going to cope without resources.

There has been a lot of talk in the media about specific things wrong with the CYFS - how inadequate the Northern Regional lockup is - but they all seem to miss the point. If you have one problem child, it may take several staff to control the circumstances of the problem. Take for example the domestic violence environment. Two social workers manage the situation, and proceedings may be also brought by police. The calls for blood letting by a reactionary bogus media that can not interview staff of the CYFS quasi corporation as Government business in New Zealand are not completely divorsed from the corporate advantages of the private sector while remaining in a quagmire of slow process. The paper work must be exact due to the need for regulation in this area.

We believe that if there is a need for bureauracy, then it is an independently funded and established bureaucracy that works with the deliverers of servce to clients. Those skilled social workers that do the work of two others that are not there could have a better chance of delivering if there was an accurate assessment of need and a proper requisistion from Government. Instead we have a manager apologising for the lack of resourcing and you are not convinced she is not actually in negotiation with her tight fisted treasurer or is actually not up to adminstration (possibly having an experiential history of a practicioner now expected to undertake business adminstration), (or worse, a bottom line man that has no appreciation of the art of delivery to clients.

Government after Government falls on this sword. Crime reduction is achieved when there are enough jobs for the unskilled. And the really stupid or evil kids are addressed early in their careers, with assistance, to be able to live and cope with our fast moving world.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website

CYFS under Fire

Child, Youth and Family Services management is under the microscope. The Government will pump millions of dollars so the dept can be rescued from crisis and a "dysfunctional senior management team".

This dept has the responsibility to help children become part of the real world instead of falling off the rails from truancy to crime to drugs and prison. It is there to help children from abusive homes. It failed to respond to the call of the distressed father of Corel Burrows and that meant that it failed to protect a child in danger.

The conditions of its northern residential centre have come under criticism. Some of the failicites we have viewed have been substandard and others extremely good. That is it a service overloaded with difficulty is not in question. That is is underfunded is not in question.

It is hard for Governments faced with massive interest bills to see reasons to invest in kids who may be criminals. But it is important to provide help before the behaviour is ingrained. The investment of a few million dollars by a Government running in surplus to help integrate 2000 kids back is the least they could do. We ask if the management of CYFS is considered defective, then why not start at the top, and do the job properly.

Nobody in CYFS want poor management. An investment here is good news. Let's hope they find people who can spend it wisely. The trouble often is that great practicioners oft do not make great adminstrators.
STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

NZOOM - ONE News - Politics

Police get new powers

New Zealand Pollice have new powers to intercept communication and deal with terrorist acts in New Zealand. The law needed some updates to comply with UN regulations.

"The new offences include improperly dealing with nuclear or radioactive material or unmarked plastic explosives; contaminating food, water or other products intended for human consumption; infecting animals with the intention of causing serious harm to animal populations and damage to the national economy; harbouring or concealing a terrorist; threatening major harm to persons, property or the national economy; or making malicious hoaxes.

With penalties for certain acts being increased from 3 months maximum jail sentence now to 10 years and half million dollar fines, a clear signal from the Government that it plans to deal with terrorism as a matter of criminal law.

"The use of tracking devices under the Act, where a breach of the law is needed to put them in place, will be limited to Police and Customs. Safeguards include the need for a judicial warrant requirement in all but emergency situations, and requirements to report on the extent to which such devices are used.

"Evidence of serious criminal offending lawfully obtained by an interception warrant will be admissible, even if the warrant was issued in relation to a different offence.

"Police will also have the power to require assistance from a person where necessary, such as providing passwords to access computers, but the assistance must be both reasonable and necessary. A judicial warrant is required.

Friday, October 17, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - CYF admits ignoring Coral call

Child, Youth and Family

Its an important Government function - looking after children who are neglected by their family or subjected to abuse. They are there to help children back into the eduction system. They are there to help with families in trouble.

As an agency, they are not exactly popular in the media. The latest run of headlines lead a growing popular opinion that there is something wrong with the agency itself.

Every failure to act that results in tragedy will hit the headlines, but when an agency like CYFS managed to get it right, nobody gives a hoot.

How many calls for help from broken families has CYFS acted on only to find resources squandered with time wasters? Are CYFS free to act to protect children in every case or is there a serious resourcing problem that the Government should look into?

CYFS admits to being understaffed and other agencies in the Youth Jusitice System have complained that CYFS effectiveness is undermined by the way in which it is staffed. Police have also found it difficult to get social workers assigned by CYFS in some cases. Comments from officials ranged from "CYFS is staffed by idiots" to "CYFS are overwhelmed with demand and yet face budget constraints that leads to hiring the wrong people and they are paid so little that staff turnover is extreme."

CYFS has 1780 cases that have not been allocated a social worker. These cases are "lower levels of urgency".

There are valuable professionals in CYFS whose effectiveness is hampered by the burden of process and cases with a lower level of urgency are people sliding down the slippery slope, and every single case needs to be addressed. Not just family violence, but the massive wave of truancy and petty crime that leads young minds along a road that is extraordinarily hard to rehabilitate from. If these "not urgent" cases were not stuck on an endless waiting list, the tax payer would save on a large number of prison attendances over the next twenty years. More importantly, kids lives will be saved from living at the edge, committing crime or selling P or engaging in prostitution.

Kids grow up and become adults. CYFS helps those that can not help themselves, but it seems that the department needs help to function, and it is more than vital to our future that CYFS does function.

Monday, September 29, 2003

Political State

Political State of Marijuana Law in New Zealand

The laws regarding possession or supply of marijuana appears to be an issue that balances between the partners of the Helen Clark Labour coalition government. United Future and Green are fundamentally opposed in their views on marijuana law reform. Skillful politics may mean balancing between the push of opposing forces, and that appears to be the state of play. Green MP Nandor Tanczos is actively seeking to change laws, including cleaning the slate of previous convictions for possession of marijunana and law change regarding its legal status.

The laws regarding police search for marijunana are also a target of Green political moves. If its classification is reduced it would change the status of the drug under the Misuse of Drugs act that allows police to search without warrant by invoking the act.

The Greens produced a report that promotes a more healthy approach than prohibition may following the successful Dutch model of legalisation that has resulted in reduction of problematic use by youth leading to criminal associations, truancy and educational interference. In a NORML survey, 65% of its members believed types of partial prohibition control (a little like alcohol) was valid, with another 25% prefering free and open trade of the drug.

Sunday, September 28, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Parents speak of 'P' heartbreak

P Tragedy

P claims lives. It is truly sad.

This victim had used the drug it seems for less than one year. Six years of cannabis may not have done him any good, but it did not kill him. LSD and Ecstasy may have contributed to depression but it was P that convinced him that life was not worth it. Tragically, he may have been right. P quickly inflicts irreversible damage.

Being addicted to a frightfully expensive and unremitting habit that destroys your brain quickly is simply not the same as the millions who take "party drugs" every weekend and yet survive in jobs and life.

It is easy to say "legalise dope" as it is relatively harmless. To argue that it leads to other drugs is social blindness. It is drug dealers who deal in both that makes other drugs available to those who frequent "tinnie houses".

Do not accept P into your body, and if you have, and want more, then please get in touch with Odyssey House or a drug counciller before you also become a statistic. You do not need to wait until you run foul of the law, but if you do, then you will need a lawyer as well as help with the addiction.

See also:

New Zealand News - NZ - Parents speak of 'P' heartbreaklinked

New Zealand News - NZ - Police to introduce booze questioning

Police target alcohol

In a move supported by Accident Compensation, the police may interview people to identify where they had their last drink. This seems to include not only those behind the wheel of a car, but also violent offenders, those involved in domestic violence and even rape victims.

It seems laudable enough. Let's find the cause behind the crime and if someone is lagging drunk enough to start a fight then the pub that served their last four triple vodkas may be liable.

There are dangers here, not just in police time use and possible time wasted, but in making the police endlessly broaden the net and raise new unanticipated charges (or investigation) based on heresay provided by an offender who is drunk; and then, not being able to make the charges stick.

Making the vendor responsible for the crimes of others is one thing, but encouraging responsible drinking (if there is such a thing) may have some impact. It also raises the issue that the advertising of alcohol is just as responsible as the errant alcohol vendor.

And an interview that reveals the corner wine shop as the culprit may lead to the dead end of "Yes officer, I did sell that 40oz bottle of whisky to the suspect. He was quite sober and rational at the time," may not actually deal to the cause of domestic violence.

Thursday, September 25, 2003

STUFF: HOME - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

P escalation fears

This is evil shit, man. As NZ's top lawyer gets the TV star a home detention on a P supply charge and society fails to respond this time to the NZ Herald's baying for blood, we see very disturbing indications that the problem with P is only going to get worse.

Addiction is evil as it makes people do things that they would not normally consider. Think hurting others. Think dangerous driving, really dangerous. Think about it before you smoke a P pipe. Will you be able to think about it afterwards? Naw, doubt that, chum.

And youthful bravado adds kindling to the fire, providing fresh meat to infect with the P plague.

Kids are telling us to accept them and it is human instict to outdo one's parents usually botching up our lives in the attempt. By the time kids reach maturity, they look back in horror.

The trouble with something like P is no one believes the media about people eating their own hands. Nobody believes it because they put people in jail for cannabis and that is harmless and because they get their P from the same place, hell, it is harmless too! Such is the logic of a partly grown human mind or a reckless party animal.

A handful of people drown or dehydrate after dancing for 36 hours on E. Yeah, like so what? More people have drowned in their cars! If it is harmful or not is rarely examined. E has been around for a very long time and it is not addictive. It may cause dysfunctions in the brain's happiness (serotonin reuptake) functionality. But if you deal E, you risk very harsh jail sentences.

If you deal P, you may get off because it is so dangerously addictive is a mitigating factor. Is that legal logic or is there a reflection of the socio economic (class) clout of the typical P user being more like a young media exec than typical E users, burnt out bisexual nightclubbers?

There is a hint of the unproductive in our drug laws. As customs removed 265,447 E tablets (doses) from the drug economy they also removed 530,000 tablets (raw material) of ephridrine & pseudo ephridrine (legal cold medicines). But that is 265,000 instances of mad nightclubbers looking for a hit, and maybe only 50,000 instances of P taking removed. The market is thus more likely to be trained into P abuse.

The police and customs are trained to do a great job enforcing the law. The law itself could be a little more smart. If you run foul of it, its time to seek speak to a lawyer. But if you take P a few times, you may well need help to stop before it kills you.

See also:

Saturday, September 20, 2003

STUFF: HOME - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Coral's Body Found

Missing child, Coral Burrows body laid partially clothed hidden in a Toetoe bush. The police have used hundreds of hours of police time and have as a result of their searching charged the girl's step father with murder.

A national campaign drew a lot of phone calls to the police, but Steven Williams was already in custody. It is sad to turn out this way, but it is essential that the police case against Steven Williams be at worst, accurate.

Sunday, September 14, 2003

STUFF: HOME - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Teen Crime

Teenager crime statistics are on the increase and a poll shows that opinion is divided if the Government is "to blame".

We have our theories. One of these is that the heroising of "gangsta rap", another is hypnotically violent popular immersion computer games like CounterStrike, combined with a political permission as demonstrated by the American solutions to terrorism being war - these social conditions combine to make direct retaliation a solution in the growing minds of the less than successful.

Another factor is whatever lies behind ADD/ADHD problems. Another is child abuse. Another factor is that it is simply difficult to be a parent, and the added pressure of a welfare society failing its participants, with depts lashing out at each others' ineffective organisation.

Another factor, may be the media using polls in place of real analysis of facts and this being the keystone of policy motivation.

The youth justice system can get a child help when they commit crimes as a result of problems the family has not been able to solve. It is a slow and arduous process for parents, perhaps too slow to catch the rapid changes that occur with the onset of puberty.

Bustedinfo.org is watching out stories about child/teen crime in New Zealand, what happened, no names, what the consequences are.

The Government may be to blame for great economic pressure on the education system. We expect a left wing government to do more than wing it when it comes to our future. Too many cut-backs, too few quality teachers and your statistics of peope who have negative motivation increases gradually over years.

But these are all rather general causes. If you know a kid getting involved in crime (we must insist on no names) we would like to hear from you, and ask if the Government systems helped or not.

Thursday, September 11, 2003

Law and Order News from NZCity

P Story

P is short for Pure, a highly addictive form of Speed. Readers are invited to send in their stories (anonymously) so we can pass these on without judgement. Is P a one way ticket to hell for some people?

Addiction is a state of desperation that can drive a person to do things that they would never have otherwise considered. This story from an ex-P user shows just how horrible it is.

Submitted Story

I have tried it. I know it is highly addictive. I would go to work out of my brain. I would feel wonderful for about an hour or two, then i would start to come down. And boy did i come down. I would be violently ill all day, cramps headaches, dry retching. You name it!

I stopped because the cost was too high and I saw what it did to my friend. he went from having every thing to having nothing. A wonderful family, a great job, good friends, and a lot of money. Now he's broke, lost his job, lost his family and his kids are scared of him. He's a pathological liar, he steals and in his mind it is all our fault. Not his.

I will never touch P again. It's too easy to get hooked and I couldn't bare to do to my family and friends what he has done to his.

Anon.

If you need help with Drug Addiction, contact Odyssey House. If you need help with the law, contact your lawyer.

Links:
Auckland teacher charged with supply of P to students

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

NZOOM - ONE News - National

Featherston

We wish the people of Featherston strength and hope in the quest to find the missing 6 year old girl, Coral Burrows.

Each and every person that knows about the disappearance of a child is upset about it and some are very prone to speculate endless chains of fates. It is more right now important to focus on where the child is and to assume the child is alive.

Are the police able to use heat scanning sensors on helicopters at night? Yes they may find animals but they may also find a sleeping child, lost and alone in the wild. Proceeding in a manner consistent with the child being alive upon finding only makes sense. Focus and maximise on outcomes not get discouraged by possible demises.

If the child had met any demise, the result is done. It does not matter how long they search, the result does not change.

Day three after the disappearance is way too early for the pessimists to start to pitch in with their energy draining nonsence. Put everything you have into the search for a living girl.

It is vital those who are closest to the victim retain hope and dignity.

When a child disappears the stress created for those closest to the child is extraordinary. Out of this world.

When it becomes, within 24 hours, also subject to huge national media attention, the stress multiples with every phone call until someone calls in with news.

Let us not be victim to the surges of anguish but may the seven million eyes of the nation be sharp and on the lookout for anything that may help the police to do their job and bring the child to safety.

Operation Coral - News Update
NZOOM - ONE News - National

Missing Children

Missing Child

A six year old girl was discovered to have not entered school after her mother dropped her off. 24 hours later the rural disappearance dominated the pages of every news outlet in the country and has ever since.

A team of over 100 searchers have been scouring the countryside for signs of the girl perhaps being trapped somewhere but no sign or clue has been found. Increasingly the family is worried that something may have happened.

If it is a case of abduction or murder it is most unfortunate that the school failed to notify the parent of the non arrival of the 6 year old girl. In 8 hours much distance may be travelled, even on foot.

Bustedinfo.org offers any support possible and appeals for sightings of the girl to immediately contact the police. Do not delay. Speak up.

Coral was last seen wearing a teal blue and pink jacket, blue polar fleece top, long-sleeved blue top with a cat on the front, red track pants with white stripes down the side and carrying a dark blue backpack.

Operation Reef head Detective Inspector Rod Drew held "grave concerns" for Coral.

The police hotline for information is 0508-677-333 or 0508 OPREEF.

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

The Courier-Mail: Newsreader hopes fame will keep him out of jail [08sep03]

Celebrity Myth

Darren McDonald was a news reader on Australia's Nine and Seven networks before working in his profession here in New Zealand. The Australian media speculated if he would be kept out of jail due to his celebrity.

In New Zealand, United Future MP Marc Alexander has criticised the result stating that Mr McDonald got preferential treatment.

Barrister Marie Dyhrberg clarifies home detention in another case, and rejects the description of "flashy" used by the MP.

MPs would be at an advantage if their research occured by examination of facts, and what Government Depts do rather than speculation in the international media.

Opinion

Bustedinfo Opinion

Manufacturing Heroes

In the small country of New Zealand there is an observable tendancy to install heroes. News readers are more influential than politicians.

We subscribe to a media that represents itself with a Hollywood style star system.

It is fairly natural perception that special treatment was afforded to McDonald as a news reader may stir people. In fact that is true, the Judge directed the offender to a home detention rather than serve his sentence of 8 months behind bars due to the acknowledged availability of drugs in NZ prison. The same thing would have happened if McDonald was not famous, but we would not have heard about it.

News readers have to ensure what they say is legitimate and reasonable or suffer complete rejection. MPs however can say what they like under protection of parliamentary privilege without fear of the courts.

NZ's Prime Minister in the 70s, Sir Robert Muldoon was an acknowledged alcoholic. This was kept secret from or by the media of the day.

Monday, September 08, 2003

stories

Have you tried P?

If you have tried P or have a problem with it, we would like to hear your story. Please email us with your questions or stories - DO change all names, places and times.

Google Search: dyhrberg

STUFF: NATIONAL NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website

Crown will not Appeal High Court Decision

Crown lawyers announced that there would be no appeal against the sentence imposed on drug addict and former TV3 newsreader Darren McDonald. He was sentenced to 8 months jail, but the Judge said that he may apply for home detention to enable him to recover from his addiction.

The New Zealand Herald reacted strongly against the High Court decision.

Saturday, September 06, 2003

'Homeless hacker' may surrender to FBI | CNET News.com

Super Highwaymen

The abundance of Internet Cafés is one of those social phenomena that absorbs loose parts of society. For example truants and runaways may spend the night playing war simulations through the night avoiding education. The staff can only shrug, what can they do? It is better these kids are not on the street.

Crime finds its dark corners to market and 24 hour establishments may be prime meeting places for those seeking to recruit criminal accomplices.

Criminal activity is like drug addiction, it spreads through the cultural development of the person emerging from their childhood whereas developing responsibility is part of our social order, promoting healthy interdependent relationships that allow peaceful enterprise.

It is of course a good thing to provide safe spaces where family can access high speed networks as it is natural to have a TV in the house. The Web Café is a smart environment to provide controlled access. Some 24 hour cafés become late night sweat parlours of virtual mayhem, then doss houses for game addicts and street people. They attract kids to inexpensive and overwhelming overnight meltdowns of gaming intensity.

All-night web cafés are like all-night pubs, a potential hazard to children who feel safe in the familiar environment of a game or chat room. Allowing open access to the internet to children and pedaphiles may allow the law to catch pedaphiles, but it is also tainting the internet medium as a sleazy environment.

That some internet client programs (the browser) can be turned into an anonymous attack monster that costs billions is a dangerous state of affairs. That the indigent or homeless, unfairly sacked and agressive, yet talented, and armed with with cheap and powerful web access plus a widespread operating system that allows passive terminals to be highjacked, is a risky state of affairs.

Kids with a hacking competence and a total disregard for consequences play pranks. Some of these pranks are more calculated and effective than others. Cars can also be used to create chaos, but the risk to damage to the self prevents this being a common method of revenge against the world. Hacking provides an armchair opportunity for world fame and notoriety.

The dominance of one world power over all others, whether it be in politics or operating systems, may be seen to be a grave evolutionary mistake.

Marie Dyhrberg Leading NZ Barrister

mariedyhrberg.com

Jail averted for news reader

Auckland barrister, Marie Dyhrberg successful defence of TV3 newsreader Darren McDonald on charges that could have brought a long jail sentence hit the front page in this high profile case. Darren McDonald pleased guilty to a supply charge of ecstasy and a methamphetamine charge of conspiring to supply. The maximum penalties of 14 and 10 years behind bars.

Defence Lawyer Marie Dyhrberg said McDonald's case showed what addiction does. He had been on his way to having it all, but spun out of control until the wake up call of an arrest. McDonald needed to continue with rehabilitation but would be singled out in prison.

"Sadly, drugs are available in prison. It is not as if he can quietly hide away."

The result was that Darren McDonald was sentenced to 8 months prison, but instead of serving time, Justice Marion Frater said he may apply for home detention.

Saturday, August 30, 2003

Norml statement regarding Customs seizure of Hemp

Law and Order News from NZCity

ATM Scam

The "Lebonese" ATM scam has not been seen in NZ, but this article details how it works. By using a plastic sleeve apparently some ATMs fool a frustrated customer into a belief that the machine has confiscated their card, allowing onlooking thieves to steal both their PIN number entered frantically.

Perhaps the Banks should reassure customers that this is not possible on their model of ATM or do not enter your PIN number when someone is standing behind you.

It is notable that the ANZ bank in Queen Street use a ticket system with seats that enhances customer comfort and privacy.

If this was an ISP leaking email addresses there would be concern about it in the media. Banks sound to me like they are in denial rather than informing customers if there is a danger such a scam would work in a NZ environment. Somehow one may suspect that someone will get caught doing it after the banks say nothing.

Friday, August 29, 2003

Techweb > News > Teen Admits Creating MSBlaster, > Accused MSBlaster Creator Placed Under House Detention > August 29, 2003

Accused MSBlaster Creator Placed Under House Detention > August 29, 2003

Guilty Programmer

A programmer who modified the MSBlast worm and "released it" was "caught".

Hackers seem to have evolved a culture and ethos on the internet, spreading destruction in glass palaces that house the corporate enemy. It is an attack on the fragility of the info-wealth as bestowed by the space-shuttle-reliability of operating system software.

It is a roading system where accidents are infectious and routes of connection allow infections to become giant maurading beasts that consume man years in accelerating propensity.

A programmer may have received the virus and then saved a copy of it, slightly modified, in his shared drive so his buddy can look at it, and comment if it is a good way to spread his religious message about hacking culture and the danger of software megaliths. This culture sees Microsoft as the Enemy. This culture is largely comprised of 15 year olds and has dimimished responsibility after years of playing Counter Strike and accumulated frustration with flakey operating systems, and the requisite knowhow to fix them also gives them the means to cause a little mayhem.

Except the destruction is more like derailing a train than getting the peer support of a few buddies for a score. A score that represents billions of dollars of damage to a company.

Next the Feds are knocking down his door. His virus is all over the internet and he realises the cost of fame, being in court, then prison. By the time he gets out all operating systems will no longer have bugs.

Friday, August 08, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Cannabis fuelling rural economies

Cannabis and rural economies

Is the criminalisation of cannabis, in effect, an augmentation of the social welfare system? Would changes in its legal status have unforseen social effects?

Great segments of the rural economy rely upon cannabis cultivation, its illegality probably makes it a choice for some farmers or growers to consider as a financial buffer to keep food on the table.

When laws are not followed by a large number of people, enforcement costs are raised. But what effect does this have on other matters of law, for example Farmer John keeping a cannabis crop may be reluctant to call in police if he spotted poachers on the land. He may feel more inclined to persue them himself, and for this reason Farmer John will carry a gun.

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

Justice

Justice is the wedge that seeks to determine if guilt is genuine and implaccable, or if, indeed, there is a way to help the person.

Not many eyes have seen into the eyes of genuine evil, and when it is apparent, the TV documentaries seek to convince us that we should see it that way. And the man falsely accused of causing the death of his kids when trying to save their life in a fire, we want the "system" to see, that in the balance, he is not as guilty because his eyes tell the story.

Justice gives us our sleep at night knowing the system puts those with the evil eyes behind bars and allow the well intentioned masses freedom to work in society. The function of the law is to bring before judgement those that it has sufficient evidence to remove any reasonable doubt that the accused has caused damage to others, or are constantly acting in a way harmful to others.

Mere stupidity, coincidence or misfortune, like like the man probably chasing fire engines who managed to be videoed in 7 of the 14 recent arsons in Central Auckland. The man brought in for questioning, was not charged. He was not a suspect. There is a very limited police presence in the small hours, when more successful criminals are likely active.

Sunday, August 03, 2003

New Zealand News - NZ - Pressure for undercover cops review

Undercover cops under pressure

When the police do their job properly, real criminals who leave trails of evidence are apprehended and taken out of society. That is a good thing insofar as the rest of us are concerned.

But when the Police fail to do their job we are jepordised by the results. Innocent people emerge from long jail sentences with something to prove and sometimes show how they were locked up on bad evidence.

It is disturbing and ugly for most citizens to learn that the police are not immune to expeditious behaviour, those wanting the glamour of a big arrest, or fearful under cover agents may lose track of the truth in order to get major league criminals behind bars giving defence council the perfect ammo to invalidate the months of work detecting evidence of criminal activity.

Lying gives the cops a bad name. Undercover workers are not immune to corruption. Defence lawyers are there to find the chinks in the armour. That they exist is logical enough. Those that work undercover are necessarily exposed to forces that corrupt. But when intelligence is wrong, and an undercover is installed with no possibility of genuine result injustice may be promoted as pressure to finalise the costs of such operations and lay charges builds.

Saturday, August 02, 2003

the pot smoking argument

The Pot Smoke Argument

We posted a question on a community board "is smoking pot bad for you?". Here are some of the posts (fair use quotes, or our contributions only. For the full thread, join SmileCity - its still free).

" Moderate pot smoking never hurt anyone, I smoke it regularly, once a day or more sometimes. And it's never done me any harm. "

" (of uni students who smoke pot) ... they're honour students at uni getting almost perfect scores... so hey "

" anybody who argues that drugs are good for you is stupid and naieve (sic). NO drugs are good for you, get real! "

" ...passive smoking of it (friends used to be heavy users), use[d] to stop me breathing, and on two occasions rendered me totally unconscious... "

"...in reality a majority of them are just fulfilling their role in society and ask nothing of you, so ask nothing of them..."

" SMOKING POT IS NOT BAD FOR YOU "

" Those who enjoy drugs will defend then no matter what the destructive effects are. This is the way they perpetuate them selves and their plants. Wheat and corn in the the plant world have almost enslaved all the human race as well as many other animals. "

" Some people use plant magic to their advantage. Some people use other people to their advantage. I wonder if something as wide spread and popular as pot smoking should be controlled by those who seek to use others to their advantage (ie the criminal world) or if it should be taken out of their hands entirely? "

" Regulation is worse for those who go out of control or who react badly to pot or other drugs. What leads pot smokers to other drugs is the fact that their pot dealer is also deals crack or P. "

Monday, July 21, 2003

The Law

What is the Law. Why do most of us abide by The Law?

Laws exist in nature. There is a natural order of things that is the way that things settle, when let to their own devices. Somethings work together in harmony, other things have no such useful sympatica. When the existence of one things jars or places danger upon the path of another, certain rules should apply to even the ground between them. For example the taking of a human life. That is something considered so terrible that most of us would not consider it even vaguely as a remedy. Or perhaps we actually do think ideas based on natural conclusions we reach based on the most forceful arguments presented to us by our circumstances.

It is not that hard to stay within the agreed law. If a law is not respected or if indeed the enforcers are not respected, it can have an impact.

For example, in New Zealand, the police function of traffic safety used to have its own separate and villified highway patrol. A merger with the NZ police improved both. This seems strange, as the merger of a body with less stringent values would seem to weaken the stronger. In fact the improved image of authority dealt a blow to death figures driving, and the police became more human as well.

The introduction of (the perception of) Law enforcement into the activity of road safety changed NZ drivers. No longer were traffic officers a breed we could weigh up against gang members in our minds with a social ease.

The Law is a set of priciples that enable people to safely mind their own business. It is the comfort of subscription to a set of values, like a religious belief, there is security in the idea that others will also maintain the boundaries that are clear as a result of written agreements.

We perhaps have a natural enough antipathy to politics, where matters of law are endlessly discussed. maybe it feels like tampering with a natural truth. The Law corrects the annomoly of leadership. Asking for an other to make decisions for a self goes against the grain. Accepting control and respect for a more basic social order seems the remedy of incarceration.

The Law well applied, is the holding back of remedy unless it is seen as necessary.
N Alexander

Friday, July 18, 2003

Site Award

New Zealand's Information Network - Bronze Award

Site wins NZ Information Network Bronze Award

We have won some recognition for our writings. Well done bustedinfo.org.

Monday, July 07, 2003

Taupo Police find some Cannabis

A police operation that took six weeks found cannabis plants with a street value of $370,000 growing in homes between Taupo and Wairakei.

Sunday, July 06, 2003

Nador said

Nador's View Check what Green MP Nandor Tanczos said about the hemp seizure by NZ Customs.

Saturday, July 05, 2003

Going Potty

Prohibition of cannabis does not work. If it is actually doing any harm to children, prohibition keeps it a secret. If there are any harmful effects of long term cannabis use, prohibition has not countered these. Prohibiting alcohol use causes those who will take the risk of drinking to indulge in greater risk drinking. Those arrested for risking lives by drinking while driving are acting in a dangerous and psychotic manner. Risking the death of another is insane.

It is hard to say how many schoolchildren in New Zealand already smoke cannibis. It is clear that regulation of low-THC hemp alternatives will make it harder for kids who naturally seek to fit in with their peers and yet not engage in possible long term health risks attributed to the overuse of cannabis. Low-THC cannabis may be less harmful than tobacco. How many young mothers smoke tobacco?

Low-THC alternatives enable a reduction of THC intake thus diluting possible psychosis while acting like a psychological nicotine patch. If indeed the BMA do not change their mind once again, and declare cannabis safer than alcohol or tobacco.

If there is harm being done to our children, it is being hidden by the way the law promotes a thriving black market that is making those who would put it in the hands of school children empowered. If cannabis use were decriminalised a cannabis culture may exist, but it would not be promoted by the greed of criminals.

If it were to be treated along the same path as alcohol, moderate use could be harmlessly enjoyed by those old enough for it not to matter, and school children would benefit by the tax dollars invested in an education system that is convinced it must favour the wealthy to survive.

Friday, July 04, 2003

EMail Interception

New laws have been passed in NZ giving Police the right to intercept EMail and Faxes. Previously the Police were limited to intercepting telephone calls, but now evidence from email may be used.

Wednesday, July 02, 2003

High violence hits schools

Incidents of violence against teachers are "on the rise" due to the availability of the drug P in schools. Police bust meta-amphetamine labs but this report of alleged availability in all Auckland North Shore schools may indicate new markets are sought out by those who make a profit selling psychosis and death. Is demand for a drug that can cause insane behaviour lowered as its users damage their brains and can no longer function adequately? Are pushers really entering schools to find new customers, or is demand driven by kids getting hooked?

In our opinion, the facts have not been discovered yet. Generalized statements do not pinpoint causes, and perhaps that the old adage "Speed Kills" is a reason that fresh meat is required by a black market that will endanger children and corrode the eduction system with pure problems.

Risk taking is part of growing up. Speed is compact, easily concealed and hard to detect. P (Pure speed) is highly addictive.

Hemp Products Seized

Hemp products were seized by NZ Customs upon importation by 'the hemp store aotearoa'.

The Hemp Store are contesting the Customs action in court with regard to the legality of the seizure. The products in question only contain trace amounts of psychoactive product, lower than the allowed level of 0.35%. Customs identified the Hemp products as "containing cannibis". A smoking mixture called "Knaster" and hemp tea tested in Germany as well below the threshold.

Sunday, June 29, 2003

New Cops

A batch of shiney new British Bobbies have been released onto the Auckland street beat to try and quell crime. This is A Good Thing, as more police mean more criminals being processed through the courts and a safer city recently featured in documentaries about street crime, kidnapping and abductions, truants and thieving. Bobbies walking the beat give the police a more friendly presence and most will welcome this.

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

In the news NZ's most wanted man

A very dangerous criminal is on the loose possibly in South Auckland. His history of shooting first may seems like a bad movie to most of us, except his victims. Fine defaulters South Island fine defaulters have been asked to pay up in a "name and shame" campaign. So, if you are very desperate to want to get your name in the paper, the courts may oblige.

Child care There is some discussion in the Government about child care that seeks to define a "father" as not necessarily being male. Peter Dunne, the unlikely partner to the Labour coalition, with his "Christian values" opposes same sex couples. It could be argued that his approach to parliament is more feminine than his coalition partner, Helen Clark, who has "fathered" one of the most successful Governemnt in NZ history.

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

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Police get new powers

Friday, October 17, 2003

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