Lust, like and love.

Three words that a 15 year old told me they understood the difference between the other day.  I am fortunate in many ways to have many teenagers around me, at work and home, they keep me honest 

Too Clever Too Quick, Daniel Patrick Livingstone, Another Perspective.

This post is a bit longer than normal and it may offend some people, hopefully it will allow us to think in depth about a very problematic issue that is current.

The news about Daniel Patrick Livingstone was surprising for me.  I was concerned about this man and his potential for further offending as were a large number of people.  When his profile is laid along alongside that of Tony Robertson who ran over and raped and killed Blessie Gotinco

Five years, and change for incinerating a man alive

I have heard often that as we get older we become more conservative, considered, careful even.  I see that I don’t fit that model very well.  I have always had my moral, philosophical compass awry in many ways.  As a member of a conservative christian group I refused to sign a petition that was advocating to continue to criminalize homosexual behavior and yet I was willing to call sex outside of marriage immoral.  I find myself with many different positions on morality, that which is crime and as to sex outside of marriage….  I don’t believe in the death penalty but I think life imprisonment should mean life.  I read constantly of cases in New Zealand where it is my earnest belief that the judiciary are just on another planet.  The case of the killing of Terry Martin Smith is stark evidence of a system that is cancerous, it needs swift treatment, excision radiation or chemo it matters not it needs to be attacked and dealt to quickly.  A very quick summary, two men accused another of being a paedophile.  Shay Barry Webster, and Jason Alistor Barr accused Mr Smith of sexual interest in children, they then poured petrol on him and then set him on fire.  They wer not chrged with murder as the crown did not think they could prove murderous intent http://tinyurl.com/nudh2rm.

Webster and Barr were drunk at the time, they pleaded guilty to manslaughter and they were sentenced to 6 years imprisonment of this they must serve two years and six months.  If this were not true it would be a scene in a comedy show, the central clown is the Judge and the Sideshow Bob is the Crown who did not charge these upstanding gentleman who between them have amassed over 100 convictions with murder.  I admit I am not in full possession of the facts, nor am I a lawyer however, I do know they could have been charged with murder and or manslaughter.  One of these killers is 22 years old, there is a high chance they will re-offend when they are released from prison, many of these convictions are for crimes of violence.  It matters not whether Terry Smith was a paedophile (however in this case he was not)  extra judicial justice of this kind is no different to the the necklaces of South Africa or the knee cappings of Northern Ireland.

The problem with this incident is that it is not isolated.  Justice Maunders has got it so wrong that I do not believe he should be on the bench.  If you pour petrol all over someone then pull out a lighter and flick it someone is going to die. The unfortunate thing here is that the killers did not spill any petrol on themselves.  Allegedly they were too stupid to know that such an action would cause their victim to die and they did not intend to kill him, but they were careful enough not to set themselves on fire I presume.  Inebriation is not a defense against criminal behavior.  I can only think that perhaps the judge was inebriated when he handed the sentence down.  Justice Maunders in one foul swoop has re-victimized Terry Smith’s family.  He has effectively told them that this was a misdemeanor conducted by a pair of naughty boys who made a stupid mistake.  An ex policeman got 8 years jail for selling methamphetamine.  I know of a case where a man got 5 years for conspiracy to sell methamphetamine.  Don’t get me wrong I am not saying those jail terms are too harsh.  How is it that Justice Maunders can become so out of step with society that he can hand down such a pathetic sentence that in reality is a slap over the wrist with a wet bus ticket.  It is no small miracle that this pair didn’t get discharged without conviction.

This dislocation from the real world is a cancer and needs to be stopped.  Parliament needs to reveiw sentencing.  The laws around parole need to change their needs to be truth in sentencing and where life is taken there needs to be real and meaningful consequences.  If we stand by and wring our hands we are just as complicit as those who hand out such pathetic sentences.  We need to contact our politicians and tell them whet we think and demand that they do something about it. There are times when I am ashamed to be a New Zealander.  This is one of them.  There is no justice in this world, but there must be accountability.

Caution, content may offend.

In a previous post I touched on the subject of askholes, you may know what I mean, these are people who come looking for advice and then do what they want to anyway. Well I am not often wrong but I will fess up when I am,

Sieg Heil, a cause for concern?

Values, what are they today? I am applying for teaching positions at the moment. The last vacancy I applied for came back to me asking what qualities would I bring to the position.  Iwas a  little surprised at first, partly I think as a result of being a little overwhelmed by a big week with some emotional and physical challenges in it. 

Not my Circus, not my Monkeys!

Cowering in the corner, eyes wide open and every sense in my body on alert I wandered would I survive this encounter.  The pungent smell of manure mixed with the scent of hay assailed my nostrils. 

Rest In Peace Robyn Alma Grace

I celebrated 3000 reads the other week.  I see it has hit 3100 now.  My blog seems to be developing a critical mass.  As I reflected on this I had some feed back.  It went “ Hi loved reading your blog in some ways I feel an intruder reading what is from the heart of a person I know but not well enough as I would like or more precisely I should.”  I was flattered and challenged at the same time.  Challenged in that I wanted to have a look to ensure that the hype was not hyperbole.  The feeling like an intruder bit intriqued me.  I though well I guess that is one of the reasons reality tv gets so many hits.  There is also a hint of voyeurism in that as well. I think at some level there is a bit of voyeurism in all of us.  Witness the behaviour of people at an accident scene.  The audiences of the news.  Watching the news is part voyeurism at times.
people talk about seeking authentic experiences.  There is however a long history of literary fraud http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/15/news .  How do people know I am not another one of those.  Well I guess it doesn’t really matter.  I write about things that are universal, I identify feelings and attitudes that people recognise and identify with.  That in itself is authentic.  I have a lot of things to write about at the moment so I guess that I will have to find my way of tapping through them all.

Top of the list for me is however the matter of the murder of my friend and foster daughter Robyn Alma Grace.  I blogged about this earlier, https://kiwipaulspoetry.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/murder-up-close-and-personal/

Well this week her murderer was sentenced. David Adrian Holl was sentenced to life with 15 years non parole.  David was 20 years old and he was her son.  He murdered his mum as revenge.  Robyn had told him to leave as he was violent towards her.  David is a nutter, but not in New Zealand.  He was in the care of mental health authorities at various times, he was married to a woman whom he met whilst sectioned in a mental institution I am told.  David bludgeoned his Mother to death, but because he has a “personality disorder he is bad not mad”.  What an absolute crock of shit.  Our society has become so god damned permissive and accepting that we allow sick people like this to live freely and then we wring our hands and tut tut.  It is my belief that he should be standing in the dock with those who say he is not mad .

Robyn was let down more than once by the medical community.  She was fighting melanoma that was aggravated by mis-diagnosis.  Robyn had communicated her concerns on a number of occasions about her son.  Robyn’s problem was that she herself was not the wellest of woman.   Robyn was no saint, She had a quick temper, a quick tongue and really bad taste in men.  Robyn had though a universal disease that made her the same as everyone else.  She wanted to be loved.  I reconnected with Robyn about  18 months before she was murdered.  She called me dad and I loved her.

She tried hard but was limited by circumstances and past abuse.  Men took advantage of her.  Robyn’s daughter expresses her love for the man who killed her mother and at the same time expresses her love for her mum.  Her ex husband tells this young girl that there is nothing wrong with the way she is thinking, in doing so he legitimises Robyn’s murder.  Just like John Tamihere and Willie Jackson legitimise the Roast buster rapists.  I will blog about that in the next blog or two suffice to say that the roast busters are just a reflection of a permissive, non caring society.

My dear friend Robyn lost her life because our society is so afraid of trampling on the rights of people who have shown themselves to be incapable of living by universal rules.  This young man has no place in our society and should never be released.  He has no right to walk free again and in my opinion will remain threat to society.  It is not the first time that Io have come face to face with this kind of crime.  Mental health authorities, leaders and policy steers have blood on their hands and legislators have the same blood.  Pontius Pilates the lot of them, a pox on the liberals who value freedom of the individual over collective community safety, and a pox on those who support it by not calling it what it is, a moral failing that is unacceptable and has no place in a modern enlightened first world country.

May God rest your soul Robyn,

I was proud to have you call me Dad.  I am sorry that I was not able to protect you.  I will never forget you!