gdp's Comments

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Crim-cuddlers should just shut up

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 04:05:49 +0000

One aspect does worry me a bit. The cops have not said whether there were any 'Keystone Kops' type incidents invlving tasers. During the trial, the cops trumpeted the various successes with the taser but kept quiet about a 'Keystone Kops' type incident where an entirely innocent teenager was tasered by accident. When challenged the Police PR honcho said theough clenched teeth that the police did not need to tell media everything.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Crusher making her play for Minister of the Month again

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 22:47:45 +0000

I could not see the door, but I hope Corrections will put a waist high hatch on all future cell doors so prisoners can be handcuffed behind their backs if need be before the door is unlocked.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Right to know upheld by U.K. Justice

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:23:21 +0000

Itsatrap - English law until fairly recently allowed people to obtain injunctions against media to stop publication of things of this sort. It was treated more as 'breach of confidence' rather than 'privacy' because the information was often sourced from a partner, servant, employee, etc who had an obligation of confidentiality, and the newspaper, etc knew this, but planned to publish the information to the person's detriment (thus fulfilling the three legs of the 'Coco' test set by the Chancery court in London). At that time judges had ruled there was no direct right of 'privacy' but accepted the door was starting to open. It is since Britain joined the EU and thus became party to a European human rights charter that the courts have had to take regard of conflicting privacy and freedom of expression in the charter. Generally for a 'private' person person, privacy prevails. However for a celebity who courts public attention, the attitude is that the public has a right to know about any seedier aspects of the celebity's life.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : National has unremarkable Cabinet shuffle

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:27:22 +0000

"This is a not to subtle undermining of Nick “Quota” Smith whose time in parliament is likely to come to an ignomious end very shortly." I assume this means that Osmose is likely to win in its defamation claim against Nick and the resulting damages will be so high as to force Nick into bankrupcy resulting in the loss of his Parliamentry seat. Bear in mind that the alleged defamation happened 5 years ago. However I located a couple of preliminary hearings for this case which I discussed down at Farrar's Troll farm: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2010/01/osmose_v_smith.... and the preliminary judgments at: http://jdo.justice.govt.nz/jdo/GetJudgment/?judgm... (19 December 2006) http://jdo.justice.govt.nz/jdo/GetJudgment/?judgm... (3 December 2008) What I get out of it is that Nick's statement is nothing out of the ordainary for a matter of this sort. The issue as I see it is whether Osmose can succeed in claiming an element of ill-will in Nick's statement (ie to score a cheap political point). If not then Osmose's case against Nick would be dead in the water. The judge in one of the preliminary hearings effectively told Osmose to drop the claim against Nick and other 'secondary' defendants. I give Osmose a 80 - 85% chance of failure in its claim against Nick, although Osmose may well succeed against Dr Wakeling the first defendant. Comparison between Bill Birch and Stephen Joyce. IMO Bill forgot why he was in Parliament - he had become completely 'house trained'. He went along with IRD's proposal for draconian tax penalties - so draconian that Mike Cullen had to tone them down. IMO Bill helped sow the seeds that led to the humiliating 2002 defeat, I doubt Stephen will fall in this trap.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Collins puts liberal panty-waists on notice

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:56:39 +0000

"As far as I am concerned, Offenders have no rights except the right to be housed and fed. " They also have a right to be treated in accordance with the law including prison regulations and rules set by Parliament. If Parliament so wishes, No 1 & 2 diets and bread and water can be re-introduced. "That Judge should be sacked. it is their job to protect society by putting crims away, " If the sentence is too weak, the correct procedure is for the Crown Solicitor to appeal it. If the sentencing guidelines thus set by the Court of Appeal are too weak, Parliament can give the judiciary sentencing directions by passing the appropriate legislation. It would be quite improper for executive government to interfere with sentencing other than by promoting legislation, and this includes the threat of dismissal of judges.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Police car parked in Loading Zone

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:32:24 +0000

AFAIK, there is some law that exempts police from normal parking restrictions. Police can even cordon off street parking for police use.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : S.H.A.M.E launched

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:25:14 +0000

Should the prospective victim of an attempted crime (or subject of a conspiracy to commit a crime) be able to seek name suppression? The Court of Appeal some years ago ruled that there was no legal provision for such name suppression if such a person is required to give evidence. I am thinking of the attempted kidnapping case in 2002 where the offenders made an underground 'coffin' to hold the victim which was found by a council employee. The victim (who could afford it) fought tooth and nail for suppression without success.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : A provocative comment?

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:20:42 +0000

If Clare had just let it go, it would have received very little attention. Now it is receiving unwelcome attention.

Fiscally Conservative Kiwi : Fining The Rich More Is Stupid

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:06:31 +0000

Nothing new here. Scrooge McDuck and Flintheart Glomgold (a British millionaire duck) were caught fighting in a public place over who was wealthier. The judge fined them ten oil wells each.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : We have a winner!

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:23:43 +0000

I think the Registrar offers cheap or free 'deed polls' for young children for when parents come to their senses.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Muldoon was Right!

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 00:09:20 +0000

Some years ago Sydney Morning Herald ran an article about the number of Maoris in NSW jails. It was then pointed out that there were more Maori prison officers in NSW than Maori immates. End of matter.

Fiscally Conservative Kiwi : FCK: Gareth Morgan for Minister of Finance

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 20:26:48 +0000

The former Fletcher Challenge company effectively imposed a capital tax on its operating subsidiaries by imposing very high internal interest rates on capital utilised (higher than the subsidiaries could have borrowed money for directly) and look what happened to it.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Time for a new Finance Minister

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 00:06:33 +0000

Parking wardens actually earn their pay. They do not sponge off the ratepayer or taxpayer. You do not need to support parking wardens - simply abide by parking restrictions set by democratic processes. Which would you rather see - a person being a parking warden or on the dole.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Why NIWA has a problem

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:45:16 +0000

Not a computer scientist, but a politician - to wit Peter Dunne. he cost the country a fortune with his scare mongering. It got so bad that organisations were too scared stiff to give an honest appraisal on the possible impact of a Y2K problem for fear of legal repercussions - this attitude overall cost big money. I am not saying that possible Y2K problems could have been ignored, but the mass hysteria that Peter Dunne and the media kicked up went far too far. I think the funniest one (not in NZ) was when someone born in '98 but 102 years old in 2000) received an invitation to enrol at the local kindergarten.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Why Hanover investors will get nothing from Hotchin and Watson

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:48:37 +0000

I guessed yesterday that Hotchin would be suing hell Pizza over that billboard and it seems i am right. What really sticks up the craw is he is using mom and pop investors' money to mount his lawsuit. This is thoroughly abusive - the alleged defamation is aimed at him personally, not Hanover as a corporate entity, so why should the mom and pop investors have to pick up the tab. Another thing, such defamation actions do not seem to achieve their overall purpose, even if 'technically' successful. Just ask the average UK or even NZ chirpractor following their respective associations taking (or attempting) action against Simon Singh (a prominent UK scientific writer / journalist) and the NZ Medical Association (re use of 'doctor') respectively.

Fiscally Conservative Kiwi : FCK: Friday Link-O-Rama

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:41:32 +0000

IMO Bernard Hickey has nothing to offer savers except a big stick. Savers have been 'creamed' by finance companies, banks, ING, NZGT etc. Is it any wonder that people treat 'bricks and mortar' withn big mortgages as 'savings plans'? Like it or not, house values depend on the price of a new 'greenfields' home. Unless the latter can be brought down, existing housesvwill generally hold their value over the long term.

Gotcha! : FCK: Fewer jobs or more sickness?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:22:26 +0000

Several years ago, a school leaver presented herself at a doctor's surgery angling for a medical certificate for sickness beneficiary purposes. She was refused and later in the day the GP got an abusive phone call from dad threatening horrid things if the certificate was not forthcoming. Turned out big sister had got on the sickness benefit when starting university. No need to worry about pesky student loans, just put the snout right into the long suffering taxpayer's trough.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Media caves, Bloggers win

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:17:28 +0000

Years ago, NZ Truth claimed defamation damages as a deductable expense and this was rejected by IRD, They took the matter further arguing that the risk of paying defamation damages was a normal business risk for the Truth and hence they were a normal cost of doing business for which they budgeted. Truth was successful. At that time Truth was the only paper that had the balls to expose things while the other MSM including state broadcasters were a pack of real wimps - even more so than now.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Media caves, Bloggers win

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:03:00 +0000

I commented earlier then read Kate's blog including extracts from the alleged memo. In fairness to MSM they do have widespread audiences and relatively deep pockets, hence they are a far more likely target for defamation suits than bloggers. One could say that many bloggers are protected by extreme poverty, that is they are not worth suing, but having said that a bloody minded litigant could still make life miserable for them. Therefore it is not so much that bloggers are 'braver' than MSM, it is more that they tend to be under the radar. The guidelines reproduced by Kate fall into two categories. Firstly is contempt of court. MSM is definitely tied there, they cannot afford to mess with the courts any more than the occasional mistake, and even then it is no fun for an editor to be facing a judge who by uttering a few words can have him or her led off to the dungeons. Established well known NZ bloggers are in a similar position to MSM they cannot risk messing with the courts. This leaves others who would tend to be more impervious to a legal backlash. The other one is defamation. IMO a good journalist is likely to have a 'nose' for possible defamation. They and their editors should make it their business to gain some understanding of defamation law, so there is no need to go off to lawyers the whole time. In many cases it is still possible to deliver a good 'sting' while keeping on the right side of defamation law. I would see the guidelines as saying: 1. Lawyers are expensive - cut down their use. 2. Get some reasonable understanding of defamation law. 3. Do not waste time and money with lawyers if the article is only of secondary importance. The one aspect that is wrong in the guidelines - the editor should have a defamation budget and be allowed to take risks within that budget. If there is a budget, defamation damages are tax deductable, if there is no budget then AFAIK, they are not tax deductable.

Whale Oil Beef Hooked | Gotcha! : Media caves, Bloggers win

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:14:48 +0000

Who needs Granny Herald when we have Gotcha and Cactus Kate. Perhaps some investors' money would have been saved if the media had the balls to call Rod Petricevic's bluff when he threatened to sue them on various occasions before bridgecorp finally tanked. Bean counters in MSM should also reaise that defamation damages and costs are tax deductable if it is part of the normal risk of doing business.