THE LAST OF THE WILD WEST?

We think so. Today is probably more of an historical moment that many realise. Up until now the online media has been a free for all and no-one was just to sure where the boundaries were. So we, as bloggers, all tested them from time to time - some more than others and no-one more than Whaleoil. His personal crusade on name suppression has crossed the media channel divide between online and mainstream.

Every journalist worth their salt, while not agreeing sometimes with the way that Whale ran his campaign, believes in the principals behind it. If they don't then frankly they should go find a job writing slogans for greeting cards.

Whale has today been found guilty of breaching name suppression. And faced some hefty fines to boot. If the mainstream media had any conscience at all they would be chipping in to pay his fines.

We need laws in this country that are fair, just without a nod to race or status. But the support for Whales dogged campaign and the growing unease in the way that suppression was being granted showed that the law was indeed not being applied even handedly. Justice was peeking under her blindfold and depending on what she saw, she made a biased call on when veil of secrecy was applied.

Whale has done his bit. He showed courage when the mainstream media did not.

He should be applauded and supported for that.

JUSTICE

Remember this story about our car being stolen and the subsequent police ineptitude that meant that it was left to us to access the gangs, via our old connections, to track down the car and get it back.

We have just heard on the kumara vine that the fella from the Wairarapa who stole it has been in a bit of bother.

These days he no longer wears a patch. Apparently he was sporting a few bruises a while back as well. We didn't ask for that to happen nor do we condone it. It is probably less related to the theft of our car and more related to the subsequent events.

But neither will we lose any sleep over the fact that he no longer can call himself a member of a gang. So in the end - the one thing that he values more than anything else has been taken from him.

That is a good thing.

THIS IS A CROCK

Come on TVNZ get hard. This guy does not deserve any favours -
TVNZ has decided to pull the Graeme Burton episode of Beyond the Darklands which takes a l;ook at our worst murderers.

Bloody silly really, when you think of all the coverage that is on the TV news leading up to trials - We wonder how many stories on David Bain were screened or published in the weeks leading up to his trial and even during the trial? It included this one on Bains love interests or this one about tee shirts

Silly wimpy buggers.

THEY SHOOT HORSES DONT THEY ?

How Crazy is this. Restaurateur owes you money. Lots of it. You wont get it back cos they live close to the edge and dont pay bills. So you rock on up to their restuarant with a group of big living, hard drinking mates who dont take shit from no - one. Good bastards. Then you order up Dom, the Perignon, bottle after bottle you quaff. Then you leave. Paying no bill.
Justice is done Wellington style. Roarprawn has it on good authority that many more are lining up to give the owner more nightmares.

NATIONAL HAS ZERO TOLERANCE FOR VIOLENT OFFENDERS

This from the Herald

A life sentence will literally mean life for murderers who already have violent records, says the National Party's policy on parole, to be announced today.

This is great news. It will come at at cost financially but there are some violent criminals who should never see the light of day - remember BB spent 4 years working in a a corrections facility.

National will abolish parole for the worst repeat violent offenders.

And it says this will require a new $314 million prison to hold them and an extra $43 million a year to keep them there.

Under the policy, repeat violent offenders will have to serve every day of a sentence if they have previously been convicted of a violent crime and sentenced to five years or more in prison.

This will mean a murderer with a violent record will stay in prison until they die.

This is a much better option than having innocent people die if they are released

If a criminal sentenced to seven years for an aggravated robbery already has a serious violence conviction, they will serve the full seven years.

The "life means life" sentence would have applied to high-profile offenders such as prison-van basher George Charlie Baker, RSA triple-killer William Duane Bell and samurai sword assailant and killer Antonie Dixon.

Good examples - no one in their right mind would ever want to see these men living in their neighbourhood.

All have been sentenced to lengthy non-parole periods and may not be released anyway, but National's policy would deny people like them any chance of being free again.

It is understood National's research shows that of the 144 offenders convicted of murder since 2002, 10 would be in this category.

Preventive detention - a jail sentence with no release date set - can be imposed on serious or repeat offenders.

But parole is still available and National says that since 2002, five offenders sentenced to preventive detention have been released.

I think that this is outrageous. no-one on preventive detention should ever be allowed to see the light of day. But BB is pretty staunch on this issue - to the point that she believes that the death penalty should also be considered in extreme cases.

The policy would have a big effect on the full spectrum of violent crime. Repeat robbers, repeat rapists and those who repeatedly commit violence within the home would not get parole.

Those denied parole under this category would also be monitored for a fixed term when they were released, "rather than being left to their own devices".

Excellent idea.

National's policy says "parole is not a right for prisoners, it is a privilege".

Offences that will lose an offender the right to parole if they offend again would also include attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, grievous bodily harm and some serious assaults.

National leader Key promised this year that one of the first things he would do if he became prime minister would be to toughen parole, bail and sentencing laws.

Good on them - what we also want to see is more resource put into first time offenders - its the only other time that society can make a real difference.

corrections in a pickle sandwich

I have just been watching TV to catch up on how the MSM is covering the Winston corruption saga. Very well it seems - then on TV1 a breathless blonde has a story about some crims who are hard done by - seems that the boys on PD - the buggers who are a but a car jacking from prison are grumpy about gettting pies supplied for their lunch. They want healthy lunches.

I take my lunch to work.. not always ( sometimes I get to eat at Dockside courtesy of my mate His Immenseness) but i do make my wee sammies some days and off to work I go. I pay for them - so why should those hard out hang doggers expect me to pay for their bloody pies or any lunch for that matter..

They should be paying for their own. the only thing they should get is a course in how to make a nutritious lunch.