If you do and adult crime should you do adult time?

The line between being a child and being an adult is not so easy to define these days some 11 year olds are wise beyond their years and some people in their thirties are still acting like spoilt brats. so when faced with a crime like the alleged killing by a boy who was eleven at the time should the courts try him as a Juvenile and basically give him a get out of jail free card when he reaches his majority?

Jordan Brown is charged with the murder of his father's fianceé . Police believe he may have been jealous of Ms Houk and her unborn son

He is alleged to have shot the 26-year-old mother of two in the back of the head as she lay in bed. Prosecutors say Brown, aged 11 at the time, then left the house and went to school. He was later arrested after telling investigators conflicting stories.

Police said the boy owned the gun used in the killing – a youth version of a 20-gauge shotgun. Brown was said to have been jealous of Miss Houk and the impending birth of his brother.

If convicted of first-degree murder in an adult court he will face a mandatory life sentence without parole, the youngest person to do so in American history.

The case stands in stark contrast to the situation in Britain, where the ten-year-old killers of toddler James Bulger – Robert Thompson and Jon Venables – served eight years in a juvenile facility after being convicted of murder in 1993.

Venables is now back in prison having broken the terms of his release.

Yesterday American legal experts were divided over Judge Matto’s ruling, with some strongly condemning it.

Cynthia Orr, of the National Association of Criminal Defence Attorneys, said: ‘It’s simply inappropriate to put a 12-year-old child in the adult prison system.

‘It won’t work. It won’t benefit society or this child.’

Psychologist Laurence Steinberg, an expert on adolescent behaviour and brain biology at Temple University, Philadelphia, said: ‘The idea of taking a child this age and locking them up for life is pretty repugnant.

‘What he allegedly did is repugnant also. But the heinousness of the crime does not make him an adult.’

Eight years for such a brutal double killing does not seem right to me so I for one think that being able this evil killer to spend the rest of his life in jail should be on the table at his trial. Strangely I suspect that there will be a Latte Sipper (of the wig wearing variety) who will think that it is outrageous that a court should contemplate giving  a 12 year old killer to a mandatory life sentence, But then again there are some of that persuasion who think that a child at 8 months gestation is not actually human either…

Saddened Comrades

Crimes in the school yard

Just a quickie this morning (its shopping day today and I over slept) To day I offer another example of waste and corruption in the “BER” program and as the bold in my quote points out there has been nearly half a billion dollars in projects that have not been put out for tender. Thankfully there have been some heroes like Craig Mayne fighting in the cause of our children.

P&C president Craig Mayne - who has since quit the post - blew the whistle on cost blowouts last year in two letters to Mr Rudd and five phone calls to his Griffith electorate office.

“I am advised that the (Queensland Department of Public Works) have sent all projects under BER to tender,” the letter, signed by Office of Co-ordinator General assistant secretary Andrew Jaggers, states.

But Queensland Education Minister Geoff Wilson revealed this week that $490m of BER work in Queensland had never gone to tender.

As I see it the issue here is all down to bang for our bucks and simply put even if we accept the premise that the stimulus package was to keep Aussies in jobs during the GFC do we as a nation want to see ordinary workers getting the benefit or do we want to see the money go into the pockets of Labor party cronies?
If its $490 million here in Queensland how bad is it in the other states?

Its a crime Comrades
A big crime
Until next time.

James Lovelock has some interesting things to say about climate change.

I love it when I can find the Icons of AGW alarmism who agree with some of the points that I have been making for years about the subject of climate change. Find below some of the highlights

On Climategate:

I was utterly disgusted. My second thought was that it was inevitable. It was bound to happen. Science, not so very long ago, pre-1960s, was largely vocational. Back when I was young, I didn’t want to do anything else other than be a scientist. They’re not like that nowadays. They don’t give a damn. They go to these massive, mass-produced universities and churn them out. They say: “Science is a good career. You can get a job for life doing government work.” That’s no way to do science.

On computer modelling:

If you make a model, after a while you get suckered into it. You begin to forget that it’s a model and think of it as the real world. You really start to believe it.

The weakness of Climate science:

The great climate science centres around the world are more than well aware how weak their science is. If you talk to them privately they’re scared stiff of the fact that they don’t really know what the clouds and the aerosols are doing. They could be absolutely running the show. We haven’t got the physics worked out yet. One of the chiefs once said to me that he agreed that they should include the biology in their models, but he said they hadn’t got the physics right yet and it would be five years before they do. So why on earth are the politicians spending a fortune of our money when we can least afford it on doing things to prevent events 50 years from now? They’ve employed scientists to tell them what they want to hear. The Germans and the Danes are making a fortune out of renewable energy. I’m puzzled why politicians are not a bit more pragmatic about all this.

About the “need” to suspend democracy

But it can’t happen in a modern democracy. This is one of the problems. What’s the alternative to democracy? There isn’t one. But even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.

On adaptation

I’ve always said that adaptation is the most serious thing we can do. Are our sea defences adequate? Can we prevent London from flooding? This is where we should be spending our billions.

On Carbon trading, India and China:

I don’t know enough abut carbon trading, but I suspect that it is basically a scam. The whole thing is not very sensible. We have this crazy idea that we are setting an example to the world. What we’re doing is trying to make money out of the world by selling them renewable gadgetry and green ideas. It might be worthy from the national interest, but it is moonshine if you think what the Chinese and Indians are doing [in terms of emissions]. The inertia of humans is so huge that you can’t really do anything meaningful.

Lovely stuff and even if  you disagree with me or with Lovelock what he has to say is worth reading especially if you are a Warminista , perhaps the time has come for all believers in AGW to look at their beliefs without dark green goggles and the red frames.

Cheers Comrades

8)

The Yoof Vote

Wyatt Roy, 19, will run for the LNP in the upcoming federal election in Mal Brough's old electorate of Bowman. Photo: Cade Mooney

The electorate of Longman is adjacent to the Dickson* where I live and in Longman the LNP have endorsed the young chap in the picture above to be their candidate in the next federal election. Now I have no Idea if he will be up to the the task he certainly seems to have the drive and the enthusiasm but I wonder if he has sufficient personal gravitas to become an effective MP.

From what I have seen so far the public either thinks that it is a joke or that he deserves respect for having a go at winning  public office. Personally I say good on him for having a go and if he actually gets up that will be proof that the “progressives” don’t have a monopoly on encouraging the young to  get involved in the political process of our democracy.

Cheers Comrades

C* Cheers Ray!

Marathon man

I have to say that I have the greatest admiration for anyone who can physically do what Tony Abbott did yesterday:

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott starts the cycling leg of the Ironman Australia competition in Port Macquarie. Picture: Nathan Edwards Source: The Daily Telegraph

Experts say Mr Abbott is likely to wake feeling mentally strong today after the gruelling effort of yesterday’s Port Macquarie Ironman.

The 52-year-old Opposition Leader crossed the finish line of the 226km Port Macquarie Ironman race in 13 hours 57 minutes and 1 second. His split times were: swim 1:27:21, bike 6:43:06; and run 5:28:02.

I bet that the minions of the Labor Party are wondering just how they can counter the positive message that Tony’s performance gives to the sports mad voters who respect the ability to run, swim or to throw things more than any of that namby pamby intellectual stuff….

Respect Comrades,
much respect.

Brother Number One has dug himself a very big hole on the asylum seeker issue

I commend the editorial in today’s Oz to my readers where the author has manged to sum up very well the dilemma faced by our very dear Brother Number One:

Asylum seekers from HMAS Broome on Port of Christmas Island Jetty, boarding bus to detention centres. Picture: Colin Murty.

The Australian opposed the wasteful Pacific Solution and the detention of women and children behind razor wire. But ending one set of unpalatable processes by opening the door to exploitation by smugglers is not a good result. And transferring more than 400 asylum-seekers to the mainland while maintaining the fiction that the problem can be handled offshore simply confuses voters. The government insists those transferred do not have increased avenues of appeal, but it is also the case that arrival on the mainland is a psychological boost for people and allows them more access to legal support to pursue their cases. As well, the spillover from a crowded Christmas Island is a political problem in an election year because it reinforces fears of an increase in the number of arrivals.

Refugee policy is one of the biggest challenges for governments around the world, but Mr Rudd must drop the defensive stand he has taken of late. Rather than harking back to the Howard years with claims that just as many people were granted asylum back then, he must try to take voters with him, emphasising his commitment to the integrity of Australia’s borders and his belief in an orderly policy.

This is an issue that can only hurt Labor in the upcoming election and while the minions of the far left will try to either derisively take the David Marr line that the numbers are not significant (    the resort to statistics) or they will be more overt and play the race card. Either way they may get traction amongst their latte sipping friends but in middle Australia, in the ‘Burbs and the shopping malls the swinging voters will be acutely aware that this government is not in control of either our borders or of this issue.

What we need to see on the news is not footage of buses taking the failed asylum seekers to Villawood, or of asylum seekers pushing shopping trolleys in Brisbane, we need to see failed asylum seekers being put onto aeroplanes as they are deported back to their homelands. then . and only then will people begin to believe that there is some substance to the claims by Brother Number One that his government is serious about stopping people smuggling.

Cheers Comrades

8)

To hear some one say “You’re nicked you scrotes!!!!”

Some things are like a still point in our changing life, the thing that lets us have a point of reference. in this house it used to be The Bill, and even though I have not watched it much in recent times the news that the production is to end makes me feel rather sad, sort of like hearing that an old friend is about to die . You think Oh yeah they had a good innings  but you still feel sad about their coming demise.

After a quarter of a century, the Bill's Sun Hill police station has solved its last crime.

IT journeyed from London’s gritty streets to soap opera and chases on Sydney Harbour and back again, to the relief of its hardcore fans — but after 26 years on the beat, The Bill has been nicked.

British broadcaster ITV announced at the weekend that it would end the show that started in 1984 because of dwindling ratings in Britain. Perhaps a sign of the times was the departure of the show’s last original, PC Tony Stamp (Graham Cole).

Cole, who wore a police utility belt between scenes to keep in the grove and survived the Jim Carver (Mark Wingate) and June Ackland (Trudie Goodwin) soap opera and the Sydney escapade of the corrupt DS Don Beech (Bill Murray) left the production after 601 episodes last year but Australian screens only in recent weeks.

Australian fans will point out that ratings here for the show, set in the fictitous Sun Hill station, have been stable this year. On Saturday, The Bill was the fifth most-watched program in the nation, seen by 718,000 people. It has had the same 8.30pm Saturday timeslot on the ABC for about 20 years. It will remain on air here until September.

I liked the way that the show had the courage to show that sometimes the crooks did manage to avoid being nicked and the way that they developed a mater of fact realism, Ah well there is always the re runs and DVD’s for the time that I want to hear some one say “You’re nicked you scrotes!!!!”

Cheers Comrades

“Hey Dad, let’s have a reunion” – what a great idea!

This might have to go under the tag (see the little writing at the bottom, a tag is what us bloggers tag posts with) of ‘Only in Queensland’ Iain. I dunno what gives in the radio world up your way but it looks like you’ve got a trio of real funny dudes on some funky station called B105 going by the names of Labby, Camilla & Stav  (I think Labby is short for Labia) who do not read the news:

Without a doubt most of us grew up watching Hey Dad on Channel 7. The show is Australia’s longest running sitcom broadcasting 291 episodes from 1987 to 1994.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the iconic cast? What do they look like all grown up? Labby, Camilla and Stav are on a mission to reunite the cast.

The reunion won’t just be any regular meeting. Labby, Camilla and Stav will write a new script for the show which they’ll act out for you to hear.

Listen to Labby, Camilla and Stav each morning on B105 for the latest updates and check out all the info online. You can even get involved in the search and share your ‘Hey Dad’ memories here.

Uh, huh. They don’t breed DJs too bright up your way Iain. I think a few people might have already beaten them to the punch and told A Womans Day Job magazine and A Currant Affair all about it:

Let’s play “Pick the sleazebag”.

 

Goose and Gander follies

Why is it that a male teacher who has done what this woman has admitted to doing would not only be de-registered as a teacher but would be prosecuted as well, yet this woman seems unlikely to be brought before the courts?

ADMISSION: Banned teacher Tricia Brown, who has admitted courting students. Source: The Courier-Mail

Tricia Brown, the 2009 Queensland Women’s Rugby Union Player of the Year and who was named in this year’s Wallaroo World Cup team, said she had made “some very poor decisions” but could be trusted in the future to do the right thing.

The 31-year-old, who is also a former member of state and national cricketing squads and a Queensland sportswoman of the year finalist, had her teaching registration cancelled last year after revelations she developed sexual relationships with two Year 12 students at both a public and a private Brisbane school.

“For me now it’s a case of trying to move forward in a positive and right direction, so I’m not letting myself or my family or friends down again,” she said from Hong Kong, where she’s currently on a rugby tour. “It’s about doing the right things and whatever is necessary to put myself in a good position, and not put those around me in a compromising position.”
Brown was one of 26 teachers banned by the Queensland College of Teachers last year.

College documents obtained by The Courier-Mail under Right to Information laws show she took at least one of her under-age students to gay nightclubs using fake ID and gave gifts and fluffy toys – identified as a “classic signpost of grooming behaviour” – along with provocative photographs of herself taken in her bedroom.

The documents also revealed that she became involved in a “heated argument” at a pub in Brisbane’s western suburbs with one of the students, who has since finished school.

The committee labelled Brown a “predator towards young girls”.

“There is definitely a pattern of behaviour,” the report said.

I am likewise perplexed that our friends from the left who were so keen to denounce Matty Johns for have consensual group sex with a woman in New Zealand  are saying nothing about a lesbian teacher sexually  exploiting her students here in Australia. Sadly it would seem that when it comes to gender equality it does not seem to extend to treating female predators the same way as male ones.

Unsurprised but saddened Comrades

Be careful what you wish for, because there are times when you get it and the result is not what you expected.

Barnaby Joyce in Perth shortly after being dumped as opposition finance spokesman. Picture: AAP

The departure of Nick Minchen from the lime light has given Tony Abbott the perfect opportunity to reshuffle his front bench and as Much as I like Barnaby Joyce as a wild card politician even I have to admit that finance spokesman
My Late father in law was an accountant and while I appreciate the importance of understanding the numbers It is probably right that after months of pressure over a few less that cautious statements that Barnaby should be moved to a different portfolio. The Government probably thinks that his is a scalp that makes up for Garrett’s that now hangs from Tony Abbott’s belt, well Barnaby may have been intemperate with his words but at least there are no Aussie families who are grieving the loss of their house of or a family member because of it.

Calling a press conference in Sydney yesterday afternoon, the Opposition Leader moved quickly to end the speculation, fuelled over the past two days by both the government and his own colleagues.

Mr Abbott said Senator Joyce had done a first-class job and had “really helped to popularise the notion of debt and deficit. I think that the Labor Party has given him an undeserved attack.”

Describing Senator Joyce’s new role as “equally important”, Mr Abbott said the position would be “a better fit for Barnaby as we hone our political attack going into the next election”.

The new role will allow Senator Joyce to reprise his attack on the government’s emissions trading scheme, particularly in regional areas.

Mr Abbott also flagged a possible return to the front bench for former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull, but not until after the next election, citing the fact the government’s emissions trading legislation was still before the Senate and that Mr Turnbull was committed to supporting it. Senator Minchin’s position as opposition Senate leader will be filled by the current deputy, Tasmanian Eric Abetz. Queensland senator and moderate George Brandis was last night understood to have the support of Mr Abbott and Senator Abetz to become deputy.

Mr Robb, a Howard government minister, had been on the front bench without portfolio after withdrawing late last year to seek treatment for depression.

Mr Robb last night said he welcomed “the opportunity to resume portfolio responsibilities”. He said his new role would complement his responsibilities as chairman of the Coalition policy development committee.

Mr Abbott’s move yesterday came after speculation about Senator Joyce’s position was fanned by government and Coalition MPs urging a change to the finance portfolio. Queensland Liberal senator Ian Macdonald, speaking on the ABC’s Radio National, said attacks on Senator Joyce were diverting attention from the Coalition’s economic credentials.

I think that the adage that we should consider here when we listen to the inevitable gloating from Brother Number One’s minions is “be careful what you wish for” because there are times when you get it and the result is not what you expected. Personally I hope that this line up change makes for a stronger and more cohesive opposition and improves the chances that Brother Number One will be looking for new digs soon …

Cheers Comrades

Amusingly  after writing this post  I checked out what Dennis Shanahan has to say on this and I was pleasantly surprised that he takes a similar line to my own.  

Swings and roundabouts

Reading the BBC news website today led me to two different stories about the environment in the Bay of Bengal. Now if you read the first one I would be very surprised if you did not think that it is a sure sign that the dire  predictions about climate change were being vindicated.

A tiny island claimed for years by India and Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal has disappeared beneath the rising seas, scientists in India say.

The uninhabited territory south of the Hariabhanga river was known as New Moore Island to the Indians and South Talpatti Island to the Bangladeshis.

Recent satellites images show the whole island under water, says the School of Oceanographic Studies in Calcutta.

Its scientists say other nearby islands could also vanish as sea levels rise.

[...]

“What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming,” said Professor Sugata Hazra of the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in Calcutta.

Anyone wishing to visit now, he observed, would have to think of travelling by submarine.

Professor Hazra said his studies revealed that sea levels in this part of the Bay of Bengal have risen much faster over the past decade than they had done in the previous 15 years.

And he predicts that in the coming decade other islands in the Sundarbans delta region will follow New Moore, or South Talpatti, beneath the waves.

“We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more island areas come under water,” Prof Hazra said.

I am sure that PKD or JM  will be thinking something along the lines of “At last here is some proof that Iain Hall can’t dispute” but If you think about it for a second it is not that hard to realise that the many islands in that part of the world are in fact made of accumulated river mud and not what anyone would call very substantial so the disappearance of this island is probably down to it being simply washed away rather than it being inundated by rising sea in much the same way that sandbanks come and go.. But just as the lord takes something away something else is created and on today’s climate roundabout  we have this story also from the BBC:

Bangladeshis are used to frequent flooding

New research shows Bangladesh may not be as vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change as previously feared, scientists in Dhaka say.

They say satellite images show the country’s landmass is actually growing because of sediment dumped by rivers.

A report by UN scientists has projected that rising sea levels will inundate 17% of Bangladesh by 2050, making about 30 million people homeless.

One its authors said he saw little in the new research to change his mind.

‘New islands’

Satellite images of Bangladesh over the past 32 years show that the country is growing annually by about 20 square kilometres (7.72 square miles), said Maminul Haque Sarker of the Dhaka-based Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services.

Looking at the two pieces  should make you think about how the alarmists are so keen to give us half the story if it tells us that disaster is imminent.  Based upon a small detail like the amount of land in Bangladesh that is only a little above sea level   they ignore the fact that the delta is being constantly added to by the silt carried by the great rivers of the area.

Its  an interesting confluence of stories that should serve to remind us that nothing in the planets geography of our planet is fixed and unchanging, especially when it is at the meeting place of some great rivers and the sea.

Cheers Comrades

Thirty percent proof

On of the defences for the policies of Brother Number One on illegal arrivals is the oft stated claim that it is the so called “push” factors that drive people to put their lives into the hands of people smugglers. The claim has been made many times that the dire circumstances in the countries of origin for these “asylum seekers” have got worse recently so naturally, the numbers coming here have increased. Well I think that this reports suggests that there can be no other cause but the change in our domestic laws driving the current surge.

The UNHCR’s report showed virtually no change in the number of people seeking asylum in the industrialised world, with 377,200 asylum applications last year compared with 377,100 in 2008.THE number of refugees seeking asylum in Australia jumped by almost 30 per cent last year despite global numbers remaining steady, challenging Kevin Rudd’s claim that instability abroad is behind the surge in refugee boats.
As Border Protection command yesterday intercepted two more asylum boats, the third in as many days, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees released its annual report on global asylum trends.

Yesterday’s boats, which were carrying a total of 79 people, will push Christmas Island well beyond its official capacity of 2040 unless detainees are moved en masse to the mainland or the centre is once again expanded to house the growing population of detainees.

I expect that Brother Number One will try very hard to spin this and deny that which is obvious, But then that is is what we have come to expect from him on this issue. He and his government have removed the locks from the doors and put up a sign saying welcome to the people smugglers and yet they want to claim publicly that our sovereignty and border integrity is not being repeatedly breached. The man who gave us the burning houses and electrocuted insulation workers has been proven yet again to have made some very bad policy decisions, I can’t help wondering if that old election favourite “its time” might just be ready for a rerun a bit earlier in the election cycle than we usually get a new cover version released.

It’s Time

It’s time for freedom,
It’s time for moving, It’s time to begin,
Yes It’s time It’s time Australia,
It’s time for moving, It’s time for proving,
Yes It’s time

It’s time for all folk,
It’s time for moving, It’s time to give,
Yes It’s time

It’s time for children,
It’s time to show them, Time to look ahead,
Yes It’s time

Time for freedom,
Time for moving, Time to be clear,
Yes It’s time

Time Australia,
Time for moving, It’s time for proving,
Yes It’s time

Time for better,
Come together, It’s time to move,
Yes It’s time

Time to stand up,
Time to shout it, Time, Time, Time,
Yes It’s time

Time to move on,
Time to stand up, time to say ‘yes’,
Yes It’s time

Cheers Comrades

Coming out of the closet is a risk to life itself.

I have been rather bemused by the way some people get riven by angst about the issue of Gay marriage because lets face it we have a rather liberal view about homosexuality in this country. Sure there are some people who are full of disgust and hatred for those who bat for the other team but most people here are generally either ambivalent or accepting. Our laws have long since got out of the bedrooms of consenting adults and that is as it should be. There is simply no substantial problems for any individuals to set up home together and to be entirely open about then sexuality. Compared to the ages gone by where being Gay was “the love that dare not speak its name” we have a very liberal attitude indeed. So spare a thought for anyone who is Gay in Islamic countries like Malaysia:

GAY men can at last be depicted in Malaysian films – so long as they repent or even go straight in the end.

Strict censorship rules in the mostly Muslim country mean books and films are routinely banned or scenes deleted that are deemed detrimental to moral values or religious sensitivities.

The new censorship guidelines reverse a ban on scenes featuring homosexuality, Malaysian Film Producers’ Association president Ahmad Puad Onah said. But there’s a catch.

“We are now allowed to show these scenes,” he told AFP. “As long as we portray good triumphing over evil and there is a lesson learnt in the film, such as from a gay (character) who turns into a (straight) man.

“Previously we are not allowed to show these at all.”

Heck they have even used an accusation of homosexuality in an attempt to silence the leader of the opposition there, travel just a little further north to say Iran and if you are Gay it is not a case of hanging out with you friends and lovers but one of being strung up with them if you are caught of denounced, In Saudi Arabia you could literally lose your head over your sexuality. So my message here is simple our social attitude to homosexuality may not meet the far left ideal but compared most of the world it is pretty good so instead of whining about the marriage act here perhaps it would be better if a bit more attention was paid to what is happening in other parts of the world where coming out of the closet is a risk to life itself.

Cheers Comrades

Questions of faith, the law and bigotry

Those Danish Cartoons just keep giving when it comes to showing the world just what a tolerant and modern faith the world has in Islam, well not really But it is actually rather strange that after failing to intimidate the secular governments of Denmark and Europe with the sort of protests (and worse) illustrated below that now there is to be an attempt to sue.

Angry Muslim protesters march on the Danish embassy in London in 2006 over newspaper cartoons of Mohammed / The Daily Telegraph Source: The Daily Telegraph

NEARLY 95,000 descendants of Mohammed are going to sue 10 newspapers for publishing “blasphemous” cartoons of the prophet.

Artist Kurt Westergaard, whose life has been in danger ever since he drew a cartoon of a bearded, Mohammed-like man with a bomb in his turban / AFP Source: AFP

Faisal Yamani, a Saudi lawyer acting for the descendants, claims that the cartoons – which first appeared in 2005 and caused violent protests by Muslims around the world – are defamatory.

One of the 12 cartoons depicts Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

The Sunday Times said that although the cartoons were published by Danish newspapers, Mr Yamani plans to pursue legal action in England, where libel laws are weighted towards the plaintiff.

English lawyers expect that he will argue that the cartoons were published in Britain via the internet and are a direct slur on his clients, who live in the Middle East, north Africa and even Australia.

Mark Stephens, a British lawyer who saw Mr Yamani’s missive to the newspapers, told The Sunday Times: “Direct descendants of the prophet have a particular place within Muslim society … By effectively criticising and making fun of the prophet you are, by implication, holding them up to scandal, contempt and public ridicule.

“The question is, is that defamatory in English law?”

You would expect that the case will be thrown out at the first hurdle quite simply because I don’t think that it is possible under English law to defame the dead but I also think that what ever happens any court hearing will inspire more of the “peaceful”protests that have done so much to cement the notion that Islam is a “religion of peace. Which is of course the point of the lawsuit.

Islam is not the only faith wrestling with the law. The long standing scandal of kiddie fiddlers in dog collars continues to haunt the Catholic church and the crux of their problems seems to me to lay with their longstanding desire to address such problems in house under cannon law rather than throwing offenders out of the clergy and into the arms of the secular courts. The result of this wrong headed response to the problem was to perpetuate the abuse as the abusive priests were just moved around more to avoid scandal to to attain Justice for the victims.
I have repeatedly made my disgust and disdain for anyone who sexually abuses children very clear at this blog and I have been scathing about the way that we deal with these scumbags repeatedly suggesting that society would be a better place if they are excluded from it either by the use of the rope or by imprisoning them for the term of their natural lives. So I was somewhat taken aback by comment that have been submitted by Craig Young AKA “Craigy”.

First he thinks that this is both true and funny enough to submit to my St Patrick’s day post

A Catholic priest, a rapist and a paedophile walk into a bar…

…he orders a drink….

And then he has the gall to make this claim when I refused to allow his comment out of moderation

I have no interest in a blog run by someone who supports child abusers. Just thought I’d see if it was still the case.

The thing is no matter how bad the acts of individuals  within the church have been or how bad the omissions and mistakes  in addressing that abuse has been (and they have been some rather big mistakes )  I think that it is just as unfair to condemn all catholics or all members of the clergy as it is to condemn all Muslims for the actions of the violent protests and the bomb carrying Jihadists.

Ironically Craigy  in the past chided me on the basis of his  belief that anything that I write about the Jhadists is demonising all Muslims:

Your point is one many have tried to make here without success. Iain’s complete conviction that all Muslims are evil is simple minded and typical of the right.

#

Now with the changing of just a few words Craigy’s comment above becomes the perfect paraphrase of his position on the Catholic Church

Your point is one many have tried to make here without success. Craigy’s complete conviction that all Catholics are evil is simple minded and typical of the left.

Craigy, like so many of his pals from the left, is taking a great delight it the scandal about priestly sexual  abuse because he can use it as a cypher for his hatred of Catholicism and those who follow that expression of Christian faith. This is a bigoted position that is just as vile as the one espoused on the far right who think that any follower of Islam is by definition an evil terrorist.
There is no doubt that the hierarchy of the church is working on addressing this horrible and long standing problem while it is entirely fair to be critical of those who have abused their priestly office there needs to be an understanding that it is not fair to brand all men of the cloth as guilty just because of their vocation as Craigy does. The current Pope appears to be doing something about addressing the problem and only time will tell if things like his pastoral letter and a new willingness to have offenders answer to secular law for their sins will be effective. Personally I would like to see every priest who has abused the trust of his office strung up by his balls (metaphorically speaking) from the nearest lamp post but I know many sincere and pious Catholics who no more deserve to wear the odium of the abusers than the peaceful Muslims deserve to wear the odium of the suicide bombers. Now if only the bigots of the left like Craigy could appreciate that the world would be a better place.
Cheers Comrades
8)

A white elephant aspiration

In the upcoming federal election I have no doubt that the issue of how to deal with unauthorised boat arrivals is not going to be an issue that Brother Number One will relish at all mainly because the facts of the matter clearly show that the changes wrought by his government have obviously led to the many boats arriving almost daily now. At this rate we will end up with the entire Indonesian fishing fleet impounded by our Navy because they have been used for people smuggling. OK that is an exaggeration of the facts  but certainly not of the seriousness of the problem as the Australian reports that the facility on Christmas Island is now just fifty beds short of being at capacity.

The suspected illegal entry vessel was found northwest of Christmas Island shortly after 11pm (AEDT) last night.

Initial estimates suggest 92 passengers were on board, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor said in a statement today.

The interception takes to 25 the tally of unauthorised asylum seeker vessels that have entered Australian waters in 2010.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the addition of 92 asylum seekers – the second largest intake this year – to Christmas Island meant the detention centre would have only 50 beds left.

Our Labor government changed the policy to one where illegal arrivals are just about sure to be given permanent residency and the result has been a relentless parade of boats that have been coming ever since. They arrive so often that it barely rates a mention in the media. The Latte sippers would have the doors to this country flung wide open and they would allow anyone who wants to to come here, the far right may well dream about the heady days of the vile dictation test but most ordinary Aussies just don’t like the idea that anyone should demand our compassion or that they should come uninvited to live here. I can’t help thinking that the rewarding of the arsonists who blew up Seiv 37 with residency is going to (dare I say it) backfire on the government and feature in the upcoming campaign by the coalition.
This certainly will be an issue at the next election and the trick for both sides of politics is going to be putting forward a policy that is both effective and fair. Personally I think that the answer lies in ditching the altogether too generous definition of a “refugee” making swift decisions and some equally swift repatriations of the failed claimants back to their countries of origin. Because only when the gamble of boarding a leaky Indonesian boat stops paying off will the facility on Christmas Island become the redundant white elephant that the latte sippers were calling it in those halcyon days after the election of our dear Brother Number One before the consequences of his maladministration became so evident.
Cheers Comrades