84 year old veteran performer Rolf Harris has been found guilty on all 12 counts of sexual assault. As the verdict was read out in the Southwark Crown Court, there was a stunned silence as the performer’s 60 year show business career collapsed around him. However those in court who had been following the case must have expected the verdict. He was pilloried on the front page of every UK daily newspaper, and likewise around the world and especially in Australia.
Gone was the happy, eccentric, talented singer and artist, and all that was left was the convicted paedophile and sexual predator. The judge has stated that a custodial sentence is inevitable, and the public have every right to demand and expect it! Each offence carries a 2 year sentence, although it is unlikely that Harris will serve 24 years for his crimes. He is more likely to serve 8-10 years, which means he could still die in gaol.
Organisations in which he has been involved are scurrying to remove him from their history. He has been stripped of his BAFTA fellowship. His Order of Australia is likely to be removed, and so too his MBE and CBE. Footpath plaques in Perth and Newcastle are likely to be removed. Harris will be made a nobody. Sydney’s Madame Tussauds has already removed his wax figure, doing so last May.
In court Harris lied about his relationships with his victims, and tried to make them out as liars, but in the end with skillful cross-examination by barrister Sasha Wass QC, Harris was undone and made admissions that sealed his fate. As a result of this trial, more victims has come forward to relay their stories to police. Some offences ocurred here in Australia or in other countries so therefore could not be heard as they occurred outside UK jurisdiction.
Harris will be sentenced on Friday, and will then be conveyed to London’s Wandsworth Prison to commence his sentence. From there he is likely to moved to Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire which a minimum security facility for those who are at risk in open prison but considered a low escape risk.
After 60 years of lies, deceit and sexual molestation, Rolf Harris will receive the only sentence that is long overdue for him. Life imprisonment. Even so, this is cold comfort for the abuse his victims have had to endure over time.
Here’s how Australian cartoonists recorded the conviction.
Cartoon by Lewis – Newcastle Herald 2/07/2014
Cartoon by Warren Brown, Daily Telegraph 2/7/2014
Harris’ $20 million fortune is likely to be eroded significantly to pay for his legal bills and as a result of civil actions from his victims and they seek compensation for his attacks on them.
It was saddening to learn about the arrest of the young performers that appeared in the video below.
The photographer and her friends was arrested for what Tehran police chief Hossen Sajedinia called a “vulgar clip which hurt public chastity”.
The arrest on Tuesday of these young performers sparked a media frenzy and a storm on social media, with many Iranians expressing shock at the arrests. Some observers question whether it is a “crime to be happy in Iran.”
In the video, the girls are seen not observing the hijab, a series of rules that oblige women in Iran to cover their hair and much of their body when outside. Further, dancing is prohibited in the Islamic republic, while mingling with the opposite sex is strictly frowned upon. The clip was seen as an affront to public morality and decency by Iranian authorities.
Iranian conservatives are wary of young Iranians abandoning Islamic teachings in favour of a Western values – a phenomenon authorities and leaders describe as part of a “soft-war” against Iran.
This clip should be seen as an expression of youthful exuberance and happiness, and not an attack against the state.
Has Prime Minister Abbott and his office been misleading the public about his decision to restore imperial honours, compromising – and also offending – the Queen. Senior correspondent Barry Everingham suggests they have.
Yesterday, Jonathan Swan and Peter Hartcher threw doubt over Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s dealings with the Queen over the knights and dames issue in a piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
At the same time they were investigating this topic, I was also independently looking into this same issue and can now provide more information.
In summary, it doesn’t look good for Abbott.
Swan and Hartcher summarised the background as follows:
Tony Abbott announced last week that Quentin Bryce had been made a dame and Peter Cosgrove a knight. But had they really?
The Prime Minister’s surprise statement began: “On my recommendation, Her Majesty the Queen has amended the Letters Patent constituting the Order of Australia.”
Letters Patent are the official instrument, the parchment signed by the Queen’s own hand with her distinctive “Elizabeth R”, that give force to her decisions.
But, mysteriously, although they are public documents published in the Government Gazette, no one has been able to provide evidence that one was signed.
Or show that the Queen had signed the parchment at the time of the Prime Minister’s declaration.
This raises an awkward question. When Mr Abbott publicly pronounced Ms Bryce a dame in time for her official reception on March 25, was she? General Cosgrove started using the title Sir on March 28 after his swearing-in as Governor-General, but again was he officially allowed to claim that title?
The PM seemed to imply by his statement he had conferred directly with the Queen, however when Abbott called the Palace, my sources say he did not speak to the Queen but rather to one of her senior aides.
Abbott allegedly advised the aide that he was “restoring” a “truncated” (his words) part of the Order of Australia.
And, despite Abbott’s announcement, the subject of the Letters Patent was apparently not mentioned at that time but arose later, when the legality of his unilateral decision had time to sink in.
When I contacted the PM’s press office – the most arrogant, secretive and insulting PM’s office I have ever had the misfortune to deal with in my several decades as a journalist – they refused to comment and, indeed, slammed their phone down in my ear.
Hartcher and Swan did manage to speak the PM’s office:
After repeated requests over several days, neither the Prime Minister’s office nor Buckingham Palace would give Fairfax Media the exact date on which the monarch signed the official instrument.
On Wednesday afternoon – after Fairfax Media published this story online – a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said “the documents” had been signed by the Queen on March 19.
But the Prime Minister’s office continued to refuse to release the signed parchment, saying the Letters Patent, which are public documents, would be published “in due course”.
Government House was unable to shed any light on the mystery. An official said Government House had not seen the Letters Patent or any copy of them.
My enquiries strongly suggest Tony Abbott bypassed the usual channels when he announced he had decided to reinstate imperial titles in the Order of Australia.
The normal accepted practise in such matters is that a joint announcement would come from the PM’s office and the Palace and they would issue a simultaneous release.
This would be followed up by a confirming announcement in the Government Gazette, which it did, but in this case no one seems to know if the Queen signed the necessary papers — and, if she did, when did she sign and where is the original?
When I called Government House, they refused to comment. In my experience, this means they were left totally out of the loop.
I then called the Palace to ask about Abbott’s decision. I received a similar response — though the anger in the royal aide’s voice was palpable.
I asked the Palace whether the titles conferred by Abbott were legal at the time he made his announcement.
I was coldly told that Abbott doesn’t confer titles, the Queen does, so I should ask Mr Abbott whether everything was legal.
Swan and Hartcher’s enquiries suggest it was not legal:
The spokeswoman had earlier said that an “electronic version” had been sent and signed in mid-March and that the signing of the paper version was “under way”.
However, there is no electronic version of Letters Patent, according to people familiar with Palace workings, and only the parchment bearing the monarch’s signature has any force.
An email exchange, in other words, may be no substitute, nor carry any official weight.
According to my sources, when the Prime Minister Tony Abbott grandly announced he was restoring knights and dames on 25 March, nothing was set in stone. In short, he lied about the Letters Patent.
And there is no such thing as an “electronic” Letters Patent — like the honours themselves, the “Letters” are a relic of another day and age.
Abbott has second guessed the Queen, which would be, in the eyes of the Palace, simply unforgiveable.
His office is now spinning desperately to try to get him out of trouble, but this merely illustrates what a mess this impetuous prime minister creates by going it alone — as he so often does.
The damage he has wrought is significant.
Firstly, his arrogance in bypassing Government House in Canberra, which he obviously did, will cause unnecessary frostiness there.
As for his Liberal Party colleagues, some 40 per cent of whom are republicans, most are privately furious he did not consult them about this move.
Despite being an avowed – one may say, obsessed – monarchist, Abbott has caused major ripples in the Queen’s office. It is a brave – indeed insane – prime minister of any country who would try to second guess Queen Elizabeth II; when it does happen, the offending politician is usually soon put back in their box.
And as to whether former Governor-General Quentin Bryce is really now a dame and Peter Cosgrove a knight?
Indeed it may have been. But it was enough to bring down the premiership of the NSW Premier, Mr Barry O’Farrell.
Penfolds Grange Hermitage (not 1959)
The NSW Liberal Party who came to office with Mr O’Farrell pledging honesty, transparency and openness in government was forced to resign his position after it was revealed that he had received a bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange Hermitage valued at AU$3,000, from a key player in the ICAC inquiry into the Australian Water Holdings and Eddie Obeid. It now appears that the parliamentary Liberal Party is just as susceptable to venality as the one it replaced.
On Tuesday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard that Mr O’Farrell was sent the Penfolds Grange Hermitage by Nick Di Girolamo as a congratulatory gift following his March 2011 election victory. Mr Di Girolamo, a Liberal Party fund-raiser and key player in the ICAC’s inquiry into Obeid-linked company Australian Water Holdings, revealed to the inquiry yesterday that the wine was couriered to Mr O’Farrell’s home in Roseville and later received a thank-you call from him. However, under oath Mr O’Farrell denied ever receiving the wine or making the call. This was despite telephone records showing Mr O’Farrell called Mr Di Girolamo at 9.30pm on the day the wine was purchased. Furthermore, documents were tendered to the ICAC from the courier company, Direct Couriers, which shows the Grange was picked up from Australian Water’s offices at 3.38 pm on April 20, 2011 and delivered to Mr O’Farrell’s home at 4.31 pm the same day.
The thank you from Barry O’Farrell, acknowledging the receipt of the bottle of wine.
When the note was tendered there was quiet and shock in the inquiry chambers as it was realised that this would be the end of Mr O’Farrell’s premiership and perhaps his parliamentary career.
In a statement, Mr O’Farrell said, “I still can’t recall the receipt of a gift of a bottle of 1959 Grange, I can’t explain what happened to that bottle of wine.” He added, “But I do accept that there is a thank-you note signed by me and, as someone who believes in accountability, in responsibility, I accept the consequences of my action.” “The evidence I gave to the independent commission against corruption yesterday was evidence to the best of my knowledge”. “I believe it to be truthful and as I said yesterday it’s important that citizens deal with police, deal with the courts and deal with watchdogs like ICAC in a truthful fashion.” “In no way did I seek to mislead, wilfully or otherwise, the Independent Commission Against Corruption. But this has clearly been a significant memory fail on my part, albeit within weeks of coming to office, but I accept the consequences of my actions.”
He went on to say, “And that is that, as soon as I can organise a meeting of the parliamentary Liberal Party for next week, I will be resigning the position of Premier and enabling a new Liberal leader to be elected, someone who will then become the Premier of NSW.”
There has been no suggestion Mr O’Farrell acted corruptly or gave an advantage to Australian Water and midlead the ICAC inadvertantly , however the gift should have been declared on the pecuniary interests register, but it was not.
Late Thursday afternoon it was revealed that Mr Mike Baird had won the ballot and has been elected therefore as the next Premier of NSW.
I came across this article today which seemed to give a plausible, non-emotive explanation of what may have happened to MH370, quoting apparently legitimate sources. See what you think:
Has anyone considered if the below FAA Airworthiness Directive could be a clue the MH370 investigation?
SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new airworthiness directive (AD) forcertain The Boeing Company Model 777 airplanes. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of cracking in the fuselage skin underneath the satellite communication (SATCOM) antenna adapter. This proposed AD
would require repetitive inspections of the visible fuselage skin and doubler if installed, for cracking, corrosion, and any indication of contact of a certain fastener to a bonding jumper, and repair if necessary. We are proposing this AD to detect and correct cracking and corrosion in the fuselage skin, which could lead to rapid decompression and loss of structural integrity of the airplane.
Update 3/12, 16:43:
[Here was an earlier anonymous tip I received saying that the AD did not apply to MH370]. Update 3/13 0:00:
I got an email from a reporter suggesting that the AD did, in fact apply to MH370. Update 3/13 2:36:
Latest statement, straight from a Boeing spokesperson:
“The antenna covered by the pending AD was not installed on MH370, so that airplane is not subject to the AD or the related Service Bulletin”.
So, it has been determined that the AD was not relevant to this plane. However, it served as the key inspiration for an alternative explanation.New Summary:
There’s a chance that MH370 flew for hours on autopilot after we lost radar contact with it. The idea is that some kind of decompression event incapacitated the passengers and crew, while also somehow disabling Satellite and Radar communication systems.If such a decompression were caused by a rupture in the skin of the fuselage, there’s a chance satellite and/or radar antennas would have suffered direct physical damage from the blowout.
Original Summary:
When I first wrote this, it seemed likely that a fuselage section near the SATCOM antenna adapter failed, disabling satellite based – GPS, ACARS, and ADS-B/C – communications, and leading to a slow decompression that left all occupants unconscious. If such decompression left the aircraft intact, then the autopilot would have flown the planned route or otherwise maintained its heading/altitude until fuel exhaustion.
A slow decompression (e.g. from a golfball-sized hole) would have gradually impaired and confused the pilots before cabin altitude (pressure) warnings sounded. There’s also the possibility of an extremely-rapid decompression, and it’s described toward the end of this post.
Hypothesized Chain of events:
Likely fuselage failure near SATCOM antenna adapter, disabling some or all of GPS, ACARS, ADS-B, and ADS-C antennas and systems.
Thus, only primary radars would detect the plane. Primary radar range is usually less than 100nm, and is generally ineffective at high altitudes.
If the decompression was slow enough, it’s possible the pilots did not realize to put on oxygen masks until it was too late. (See Helios 522)
Also explains why another Pilot thirty minutes ahead heard “mumbling” from MH370 pilots.
(VHF comms would be unaffected by SATCOM equipment failure.)
With incapacitated pilots, the 777 could continue to fly on Autopilot – programmed to maintain cruise altitude and follow the programmed route. Using the Inertial Reference System (gyroscope based), the plane could navigate without needing GPS. Other thoughts:
The plane was [UPDATE: WAS NOT] equipped with cellular communication hardware, supplied by AeroMobile, to provide GSM services via satellite. However this is an aftermarket product; it’s not connected through SATCOM (as far as I know).
[UPDATE]: However, if the plane flew over or near land, then cellular connectivity is still possible.
Interestingly, 19 families signed a statement alleging they were able to call the MH370 passengers and get their phones to ring, but with no response.
When Malaysian Airlines tried to call the phone numbers a day later, the phones did not ring. By this time, fuel would have been exhausted.
Note: 777 Passenger Oxygen masks do not deploy until cabin altitude reaches 13,500. Passengers were likely already unconscious by then, if it was a slow decompression. Also remember that this flight was a red-eye, most passengers would be trying to sleep, masking alarming effects of oxygen deprivation. No confirmed debris has been found in the search area, consistent with the plane having flown for hours after it lost radar contact.
[UPDATE 3/12]:
Issues of Decompression:
Whatever type of decompression happened, it was likely a non-catastrophic decompression that incapacitated the crew. It could have been a slow decompression. (This scenario is more likely if the “mumbles” observed by another MH pilot are legitimate.) It could have also been an extremely rapid decompression, forcing the lungs to exhale more rapidly than they are capable of. Either type of decompression makes it difficult for the crew to respond before becoming incapacitated.
This table from Carlyle shows that after a moderately rapid (2-6 second) decompression at MH370’s cruise altitude, the crew would have had only 30-45 seconds of useful consciousness unless they started oxygen breathing soon enough.
For all 3 types of (slow, moderate, extremely-rapid) decompression, there is substantial danger to the crew and passengers. I was recently asked via Facebook, “Do any alarms go off when unexpected decompression occurs?” Yes. An alarm in the flight deck is triggered if cabin altitude exceeds 10,000. However, reacting to it (with quick judgement, reasoning, and execution) is far more difficult than it would seem. An “obvious” first thought might seem to “throttle back and configure the autopilot to start descending now; to get to safe altitude.”However that first instinct is completely wrong. It takes a surprising amount of training to instill into pilots that what they *need* to do first is put on oxygen masks. To train airline pilots, we often put them into a pressure deprivation chamber, simulate a gradual decompression, and follow up with oxygen breathing from a bottle. Many pilots say they notice an astounding difference in mental performance once they start the oxygen.If handling decompression incidents was so trivial and obvious, why else would there be such drastic training
Historical note: The 777 had an early history of decompressions when the first planes were rolling off the assembly line in 1995, however the incidents were managed safely.
strong>So why does all this matter?
The aircraft may be at the floor of the East China Sea, Sea of Japan, or the Pacific Ocean thousands of miles northeast from the current search zone.
Recommendations:
Investigators should obtain data logsfromprimary radars throughout mainland China that would have been along the planned route. They may be the best clue as to the trajectory of the aircraft.
Investigators should obtain all passengers’ cell phone log and location data. The timing of the last successful cellular connection (ring/SMS/data-packet) can predict how long the plane was in the air. iPhone/iOS location (GPS) data may be available from Apple if subpoenaed. Android location data may be available from Google.
Add a secondary search space to include a 300nm+ radius around Beijing, focusing on surrounding bodies of water. Using planned routing trajectory, known autopilot logics, fuel quantities, and weather patterns, it may be possible to define a smaller 50nm * 50nm search space. Consider running the above scenario in MH’s 777-200ER full flight simulator.
Boeing should provide expertise about fuselage/antenna design and autopilot/navigation logic, so as to help plot this second search space.
While looking through news stories on the crsis in the Crimea, I can came accross this alternate and completely sensible and balanced view on the crisis:
Contraversial though it is to say so, Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula does not represent a second Cold War. Instead, it is a rational reaction of a great power into the affairs of an unruly state in its own neighbourhood.
That may sound insensitive, but hyperventilating pundits and politicians ignore an old truth about international relations: great powers are determined to protect what they deem as vital interests in their ”near abroad.” Indeed, a sphere of influence is a key characteristic of any great power, authoritarian or democratic.
Many Americans, guided by a sense of exceptionalism, think they are immune to the historic tendencies of power politics. But when liberals and neo-conservatives slam Russia’s behaviour, they should recall the many US military interventions in the Caribbean and Central America since the Monroe Doctrine in the 19th century. The US sees itself as the global policeman and often exercises that belief. None of this is extraordinary; it is the way the world works, always has and always will.
Since the end of the Cold War, however, a new orthodoxy has emerged: a belief that power politics no longer works in an era of globalisation. We had arrived at the End of Days: the universalisation of market democracy, the triumph of national self-determination and perpetual peace.
That is why President Obama insists that Russia is ”on the wrong side of history.” But one can agree Vladimir Putin is a thug, you have often heard me refer to him as the “former KGB polkovnik“, and still believe he merely wants to restore Russia’s traditional zone of protection on its borders. After all, he presides over a great power still humiliated by the collapse of the Soviet Union and deeply resentful of the prospect of US missiles in its backyard.
For Moscow, there has long been a geopolitical interest in Ukraine, even under the Tsars. Remember the Crimean War of 1853-56? More recently, Ukraine is a conduit for gas exports to Western markets. Russia’s naval base in Sevastopol hosts the Black Sea fleet. And ethnic Russians comprise nearly 60 per cent of Crimea’s citizens.
Meanwhile, a democratically elected, pro-Russian government has been overthrown. And a Western-backed interim government with no democratic legitimacy includes hard-line nationalists with links to terrorists.
Of course, Putin may overreach by toppling other former Soviet satellites. But if he is as calculating as many Russian experts suggest, he is likely to encourage Kiev to allow the de facto partition of areas largely populated by ethnic Russians – from the Crimea in the south to the industrial heartland in the east.
For the West to ignore Russian susceptibilities and to impose sanctions on and isolate Moscow would, as Putin warns, backfire. It could whet the appetite of hard-line Ukrainian nationalists, including anti-Semites. It could also provoke more chauvinistic elements in Russia to exploit wounded national pride in ways that could be dangerous. We are dealing with a regime whose nuclear arsenal poses a threat to the US and NATO allies.
At a time when Americans are suffering from foreign policy fatigue, and the Europeans have no stomach for a stoush, it would not seem prudent to pick a fight with Russia over a region where no US army has ever even fought before, and is of little political interest to the US. Even those cold warriors, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson, backed away from confrontation with the Soviets when it meddled in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in 1956 and 1968. And when Communists crushed Polish Solidarity in an Ukraine-like emergency in 1981, it was (of all people) Ronald Reagan who showed restraint and caution.
Why then would Barack Obama isolate resource-rich Russia nearly a quarter a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall? And why should Putin believe the West’s warnings are any more than a bluff, something done in the hope that the warning itself would be a deterrent with no intention of honouring it?
Source: Tom Switzer, research associate at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre.
I was first made aware of this bizarre incident on Michael Eburn’s blog Australian Emergency Law.
It appears that a CHP (California Highway Patrol) officer arrested a firefighter in Chula Vista for refusing to move a fire truck, rather deciding to continue to treat an injured casualty in the accident. The firefighter was detained for 30 minutes and placed in a police car, but was later released without charge. The chief of the Chula Vista FD has been in crisis talks with CHP to ensure that this situation will not occur again.
In 36 years of emergency service work I have never seen this happen in NSW. Nor would I expect to! I would expect (and indeed demand) as a senior ranked officer, that patient care take precedence over the moving of an emergency vehicle. The CHP officer should perhaps be out controlling traffic and leaving the paramedic/firefighter to his job. Perhaps the firefighter has grounds for an action of “hindering an emergency worker from carrying out their duty” (or similar) against the CHP officer. In the UK, by virtue of The Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006, it is an offence to assault, hinder or obstruct an emergency worker (for example, a paramedic, doctor or nurse) while they are carrying out their duties. The penalty can be up to £10,000. The myriad of emergency service officers operating in the USA probably contributes to this situation.
I do remember testy operations between members of the Ambulance and Police Rescue Squads in NSW, who both would be dispatched to the same motor vehicle accident, or entrapment and would be a bit of a race to see who could get to a scene first and commence rescue operations. Rescue services were rationalised with the introduction of the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act in 1989, which in part gave control of reponding rescue resources to the Police Radio Senior Operations Officer (SOO), who ensured that only the nearest (qualified) rescue unit responded. However this sort of thing never happened, but I never did understand why police were involved in rescue operations. These days, Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) carries out most of the rescue responses.
This post is slightly different from that of Michael Eburn’s as it shows some of the follow up actions of the Chula Vista FD with the CHP. Find Michael’s legal view here.
For what it’s worth, I support the firefighter.
This is not the first time a police officer has arrested a fiirefighter in the course of carrying out his duty. Observe this incident:
A 21-year-old man has been charged after allegedly assaulting a female ambulance paramedic in the Sydney city overnight.
At about 2.20am Sunday, police from Operation Simmer were patrolling George Street, Haymarket, when they came across the man who they said was unresponsive and possibly intoxicated.
Officers called for assistance from NSW Ambulance, whose paramedics attended a short time later. Police allege that as a female paramedic attempted to treat the man, he struck her in the face and pushed her to the ground, before starting to kick her. Police intervened and after a short struggle, the man was arrested.
The paramedic, who has taken time off from work, suffered wrist and back injuries, as well as contusions to her face, a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said.
The Plumpton man was taken to Sydney City Police Station and charged with common assault. He was granted conditional bail to appear before the Downing Centre Local Court on February 24. Operation Simmer focuses on Sydney’s CBD, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross, is conducted in the city every weekend as part of a summer-long crackdown targeting alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.
This is just another example of a cowardly attack on a female paramedic by an intoxicated lout. NSW Ambulance has indicated that they have a zero tolerance on violence directed toward paramedics, and will pursue offenders vigorously through the courts. I know this paramedic believes the full weight of the law should be applied to the perpetrators of these cowardly acts. Assaulting a paramedic carries the same sentence as assaulting police.
Schapelle Corby who has achieved hero status with the assistance of the Australian media, received another six months off her twenty year sentence for good behaviour. This is on top of the 8 months of remissions received each year, and after Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year granted her clemency on humanitarian grounds and slashed her sentence by five years.
Furthermore, now a recommendation for parole has been sent to the Indonesian government with a condition that the parole must be served at an address in Bali, most probably with her sister, Mercedes. This could see her released in 2014.
Of course this news whipped the Australian media into a frenzy again, relating to all “Schapelle’s strict bail conditions revealed”; “How Schapelle will live in Bali”; “Schapelle Corby must undertake moral and religious training” and “Schapelle to design swimwear in Bali” and a miriad of other permutations of this theme.
Only one of articles I read chose to remind us that Schapelle Corby is a convicted drug courier who received twenty years imprisonment in Kerobokan prison for the 2004 attempt to smuggle more than 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali concealed in the bag of a boogie board.
In real terms the 20 year sentence initially received will end up actually being more like 10 years.
Now I know that it will be argued by some that 20 years was too long a sentence, and conditions in Indonesian prisons are squalid and overcrowded, and while all this may be true; but it must be remembered that she was found guilty of drug smuggling in a country where the penalty for this crime could be death. When you travel in a country, you are bound by the laws and customs of that country. Equally, when you commit crimes in that country, you are also bound by the laws and punishments of that country. Even if they are more draconian than those at home.
I suppose what bothers me most however, is that the Australian media continue to make Corby out to be hard done by, to sanitise her crimes and try to elevate her status to that of a cult hero like a modern day Ned Kelly. And it should be remembered that he too was a thief, bank robber, bushranger and a murderer. But then I guess this is what sells womens magazines back in Australia.
In Corby’s case, has justice been done? You be the judge.
The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the stop line, even though he could have beaten the red light by continuing through the intersection.
The woman tailgating was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her mobile phone and her makeup.
As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.
He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
He said, ”I’m very sorry for arresting you. But you see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, giving the guy in front of you the finger, and swearing at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ number plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the boot lid, so naturally I assumed you had stolen the car.”
But there is still the matter of the mobile phone and the make-up!
George Brown is a decorated soldier and health professional and 40 year veteran in the field of emergency nursing and paramedical practice, both military and civilian areas. He has senior management positions in the delivery of paramedical services. Opinions expressed in these columns are solely those of the author and should not be construed as being those of any organization to which he may be connected.
He was born in the UK of Scottish ancestry from Aberdeen and a member of the Clan MacDougall. He is a member of the Macedonian community in Newcastle, and speaks fluent Macedonian. While this may seem a contradiction, it is his wife who is Macedonian, and as a result he embraced the Macedonian language and the Orthodox faith.
His interests include aviation and digital photography, and he always enjoys the opportunity to combine the two. Navigate to his Flickr site to see recent additions to his photo library.
Џорџ Браун е украсени војник и професионално здравствено лице и 40 годишен ветеран во областа на за итни случаи старечки и парамедицински пракса, двете воени и цивилни области. Тој има високи менаџерски позиции во испораката на парамедицински услуги. Мислењата изразени во овие колумни се исклучиво на авторот и не треба да се толкува како оние на било која организација тој може да биде поврзан.
Тој е роден во Велика Британија на шкотскиот потекло од Абердин и член на Kланот MacDougall. Тој е член на македонската заедница во Њукасл, и зборува течно македонски. Иако ова можеби изгледа контрадикција, тоа е неговата сопруга кој е македонски, и како резултат научил македонскиот јазик и ја примија православната вера.
Неговите интереси вклучуваат авијација и дигитална фотографија, и тој секогаш ужива во можност да се комбинираат двете. Отиди до неговиот Фликр сајт да видите последните дополнувања на неговата слика библиотека.
Discussion on the law that applies to or affects Australia's emergency services and emergency management, by Michael Eburn, PhD, Australian Lawyer. Email: meburn@australianemergencylaw.com
Oh, let's see...distinguished Gen-X'er, frustrated writer and mom living in the confines of a small town that thinks it's a big deal. And have I mentioned Walmart yet?
Words, By George! 