It’s a crime
I have a crime to report. Someone has kidnapped one of our most insightful journos and replaced them with an illiterate wowser. How […]
Social issues
crime
Truly sensible sentencing
“I’m not one for ideological stances; I support what works”, said John Key in a speech to the Salvation Army in early 2007. Well […]
Police nurture a unwise form of direct democracy
The Economist has an fascinating article “Rioters of the world unite“. It is partially about the demonstrations, protests, and outright riots in Athens […]
Evolution and Crime
The Economist is one of the few main stream media that seem to be flourishing in the days of decline for most media […]
Animal right activists, farming and the police
On ABC last night there was a excellent video “Animal rights campaigner spreads message“. It is worth watching for people who (unlike me) […]
Have the police been inciting?
There is a slowly emerging twist in police spy scandal. The question of incitement and provocation from an agent of the police. Bearing […]
Howard Broad: Incompetent, dishonest or about to fire some people?
Let us assume, for a while, that Broad didn’t know the detail of SIG’s activities with Gilchrist If his staff were doing their […]
Prison tucker
When I saw this photo of Pita Sharples tucking into a prison meal in today’s Dom Post I was hopeful it was a […]
Police spied on Unite Union too
Matt McCarten, head of the Unite Union, has just released emails showing police informant Rob Gilchrist gave the police spy unit details about […]
Bill Ralston on police spying
Bill Ralston usually gets stirred by posters at The Standard for what he says. I’ve generally liked him after seeing him give some […]
Who else are they spying on?
Gordon Campbell raises a good question in his latest Scoop column – are the Police also using paid informants to spy on mosques? […]
The limits to tolerance of the police
On discovering that her boyfriend had been spying on her and her friends for the police, and the consequent violations of her expectation […]
Garth McVicar – racist
Here’s a quiz. Can you name the one killing that has seen Sensible Sentencing’s barking mad Garth McVicar support the killer and argue, in […]
Howard – some advice on what questions to ask
Yesterday, Howard Broad made statements about the targets of the SIG (Special Investigation Group) to National Radio. Interview with Howard Broad on his […]
Police Special Investigations – A fundamental lack of humanity
Aside from all the democratic, political and moral issues raised by the Police’s behaviour, there is a fundamental lack of humanity in their […]
No Right Turn: Police State
No Right Turn has written in his cogent style on the police spy issue. With the kind permission of No Right Turn, I’ve […]
Judith Collins – thoughtless idiot
Nothing is quite as important to a democracy as activist groups that engage in peaceful protest for change. In the past these are […]
Garth McVicar
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar’s analysis of prisons today: “Under our present prison policy the inmates are basically running the prison” Why […]
Chain gang
The Nats’ private prison scheme just gets worse. As No Right Turn points out prisons would be used to do contract work and […]
Prisons for profit
National’s announcement that it plans to privatise the prison system says a lot about the party’s underlying values. Say what you like about […]
The Standard line: crime
So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t […]
Not a game
National has a press release out blaming Labour for a supposed increase in assaults on police. Now, there are more people and more […]
Even your Granny doesn’t believe you anymore
The Herald editorial this morning lambastes National’s crime policy as “simply a more extreme version of a policy that has failed this country […]
Power to attack Nats’ new prison policy?
If he stands true to his principles, National justice spokesman Simon Power will soon be criticising the cost of their proposed new prison. […]
Reverting to type
Fearing a PR disaster over their tax-cut package announcement later this week, National has reverted to type, shedding the moderate facade and proposing […]
Depressing
I see National has released a knee-jerk reactionary crime policy this morning, and it’s been reported largely uncritically by a news media that’s […]
Here’s an idea, ask the expert
Don’t take it from me. Certainly don’t take it from a National hack, who despite being a professional statistician, is too dishonest to […]
Insulting
David Farrar really is a disgusting person at times. He writes that we shouldn’t look at overall crime rates (although he made a […]
Crime falls again
Crime fell 1% in the last year from 1025 recorded crimes per 10,000 people to 1014. This is part of a pattern that […]
Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign continues
I remember the first time I met Simon Power, when he had just come into Parliament. He struck me as a man who […]
Did you pay the tax, John?
Generally, when you buy capital and later sell it, there is no tax payable on any profit. Unless you buy with the propose […]
Causes and effects
A series of graphs from the Social Report. First off, the unemployment rate When the unemployment goes up or down, the practical effect […]
Social Report shows Kiwis better off
MSD released its Social Report today, an annual publication that collates a wide variety of standard of living measures, and produces this awesome graph. […]
Break-in
This just in from Radio NZ: Police are investigating a break-in at the electorate office of a senior Labour MP, David Cunliffe, in […]
Anti-abuse law in action
A front page story on Stuff at the moment is about a woman who systematically beat her child and has been successfully prosecuted […]
Roy puts Police informants at risk
ACT is turning to increasingly desperate attempts to win media attention. Raising Roger Douglas from the dead didn’t work (he only got 6 […]