Valerie Morse - a professional grizzler

No matter how well Valerie articulates her opinions, she is still a misguided whiner. Referring to the Tuhoe trouble, the Police had ample evidence that there were a bunch of mainly Maori arming themselves for insurrection and terrorism, and if she wishes to participate then she should step up and enunciate her beliefs, and tell everyone what she was doing. That the courts have ruled that some of the evidence is inadmissible is irrelevant. She hides behind the parts of law that protect her, but she also abuses parts of law when it suits her.  And therefore she is morally wrong wrong wrong. She's a barely-veiled "Fifth Columnist" in a section of society who want political change, and she serves them poorly.

And if she wishes to argue that, then she should consider what "anarchy" means  - lawlessness, and survival of the fittest. I welcome her day in a court where she is asked to tell the truth about her behaviour and beliefs.

Political Correctness

Every time I hear the phrase "It's P.C. gone mad!" I cringe. It's usually uttered (or shrieked) by people whom I've already made my mind up about. Narrow-minded, shallow-thinking or just been too long down on the farm, and rubbing shoulders with a thin slice of the national community. Ok - you may say that this just confirms that I have my own set of prejudices, but I'll parry that with "These people have already said enough for me to form an opinion of them."
I wish to announce to the sphere that I'm going to adopt a new ploy, rather than just shaking my head disdainfully - my usual response. If I say something deeply personal (and shocking) in response it may challenge them enough to examine their beliefs.The problem sometimes is that when I want to play Devil's Advocate the other party can't be objective enough to consider that my remarks are neutral - not aggressively provocative.
So when someone says something like "Why should those Maoris get special treatment. We should all be treated the same. It's reverse racism and it's just PC gone mad!!" I'll have to say something like "So having maternity wards is sexist P.C. nonsense and women shouldn't be allowed to be treated like they're special." Occasionally I hear colleagues say that all prisoners deserve to be treated harshly and certain (legal) rights should be taken away or a prisoner who attempts suicide should be left to die. A couple of times I've responded with "What about a remand prisoner, who hasn't been convicted of any crime, and was arrested because he fell against a car when he was pissed - and he's your son?"  Yes - I am an agent provocateur but just for fun. It's not a popularity contest folks. I like being just a little bold.

Tiki Taane and the Mongrel Mob

Tiki's been charged with an Incitement crime, I think, after he performed a "rap" song inciting people to knock-off a cop. He did it under the noses of the cops too so he deserves what befalls him. Why? Well he lives by the sword so.....
I've met his Dad Bob, and he's changed his name to Uekaha or something like that. He's a pleasant and gentle man and seems to be community-oriented and a good supporter of Maoritanga.
Now Tiki is a bit of a rascal as he "used" to hang with the Mongrel Mob. He wasn't patched but he admits he was a bit of a bad bugger, and he obviously enjoyed it. Not sure why he says he's turned his back on all that stuff now. Eventually he'll mature, and realise that he hasn't the energy for all that posturing b/s.
But... a couple of years ago at the Music Awards as he entered the venue he was all staunch and dressed-up in Mob colours, and giving the bulldog head salute. - quite unique and unmistakable.
About a year later he was talking with Kathrine Ryan on National Radio, and mentioned how he'd not hung with the M.M. for years and he was over all that.
What a duplicitous shallow prick. He doesn't know who he is, and clearly enjoys the notoriety he creates. Like so many needy people who join criminal gangs, and decide that they don't like it he finds it hard to completely break away. Gangs don't like traitors, and often they dish out a near-death hiding as a farewell gift. I had a read of the Notorious chapter pledge recently, and in spite of what their leaders say about them being social-welfare organisations they ARE criminal gangs.

Non-smoking in Prisons

Joy joy happy happy! I managed to duck beneath the purity-police at work, and get this read out on Jim Mora's Afternoon show on the National Programme. A few acquaintances commented on it favourably so here it is ....

Hello Jim,

God your guests irritate me. I very nearly took up smoking again. Why could you not get some talking head from our National Office to speak about it? Instead you got the other geezer. I'm a Corrections Officer with five+ years under my belt, therefore qualifying me to speak on this. Although there is some anxiety from all quarters, the transition is going well. I was screamed at by an angry prisoner for several minutes this morning but being the calm mature man that I am, I was eventually able to placate him - and I suspect he got puffed. :D

Allie/Ellie/Ali implied that carrot sticks are being proffered as the sole device to assist with the transition to non-smoking. For the past year Corrections has been preparing for the change. Gary - it hasn't been part of the Justice Dept for eons. Counselling, lozenges, Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) patches, and a wider range of healthier snack foods are all helping. Carrot sticks also serve as a placebo for the "manual-oral" behaviour associated with smoking.

Most of the prisoners are people who have drug addictions or resort to drug abuse when Joe Heke's usual coping mechanisms don't work. They're over-represented in prisons and additionally 70% of prisoners are smokers - 3 x the national average. If they can beat one addiction then they have a better chance of beating others, and prison is a good environment to help them - albeit arguably an artificial one. There is no alcohol problem in NZ prisons - more than one can say about the "outside."

Get on board with this folks - it WILL work, and many prisoners will sincerely thank us for it.