Only in NZ - Guilty by Accusation

It is hard to believe but true that in New Zealand a new law is about to come into force that will reverse in one single swipe all that democracy and justice stands for, that is the right to innocence until proven guilty.

Beijing Olympics - Whats it all about?

As a kid I was always fascinated by the Olympics and remember watching bits and pieces from the 84 event in LA. Since then I have not really been to bothered by it all, I catch some tidbits here and there and keep tabs on how well Great Britain and New Zealand are doing in the medals but other than that the interest in not like it used to be. Besides the fact that the Olympics seems to be more about how spectacular the event will be as opposed to mankind playing well together. But two things have stood out for me in this Olympics so far.

Yes that's right only two things and I'm not talking about Michael Phelps record medal tally, or the Jamaican runner Usain Bolt taking the piss out of the hundred metre world record, I'm not even going to mention Janos Baranyai, the poor bastard from Hungary who seemed to snap his arm off while opening a packet of crisps (Not actually what happened).
I am talking about the two athletes from the warring countries of Georgia and Russia who, ironically took out medals in the 10 metre air pistol event. Despite the fact that the Russians have steamrollered their way into Georgia the two women showed what the spirit of the Olympics is all about by hugging and generally getting along. Nino Salukvadze who won the bronze for Georgia had this to say.

"If the world were to draw any lessons from what I did there would never be any wars," she said. "We live in the 21st century, after all. We shouldn't really stoop so low to wage wars against each other."

A great attitude that the leaders of the World should learn from. By the way Russia's Natalia Paderina won the silver. On top of the shooters display of friendship the women's volleyball team showed the World that they are not to happy with the situation at home. Andrezza Chagas and Cristine Santanna of Georgia crossed under the net to hug their Russian competitors, Alexandra Shiryaeva and Natalia Uryadova.

"I am very unsatisfied with the results, but the Georgian team really played well. Their levels are rising very fast recently," said Shiryaeva. "Definitely I hope for peace. We do not want other things to influence the match."

A Russian spectator had this to say.

"The charm of the Games is that before the match you never know who will win. Players of both sides competed in a friendly atmosphere. It was really unforgettable."

The second Olympic moment was truly emotional and came from the German super heavyweight lifter Matthias Steiner. He lost his wife to a car accident last year and promised her memory that he would make it to the Olympics, which he did. Not only did he make the Olympics but he won the gold medal and he was so happy that he jumped around the lifting stage after falling to his knees and thumping the ground. Then as he was receiving his medal he held aloft a picture of his wife. What a dude. Check it (great commentary).

To me this is more amazing than all the world records that fall and the opening ceremony and all the other guff that goes with it. Its the small things that individuals do that make a moment and these two moments are truly memorable.

Guns don’t kill people...

I was always fascinated by that saying and how simple it seems. “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. In essence, it is compelling because it is true. Guns do not kill people of their own volition, they require a motive force such as a finger pulling the trigger, a hand to aim it and a person to decide what to aim at. But is it oversimplifying things? Do guns in a larger sense actually kill people through actually existing, or am I just talking out my butt?

Recently I had my house broken into, and although nothing much was taken luckily, and no one was home, the sense of some scumbag rifling through my personal effects pissed me off something chronic. I went through the classic stages we experience to cope with things.

DENIAL
“What? Someone broke in? Don’t be ridiculous! They can’t break in when we’ve got things like, doors and windows covering the openings. Well of course they could have just smashed a window, but who in their right mind would do that? That’s crazy talk!”

ANGER
“Fucking pricks! How dare they break into my house! I’m going to....well...I...I’m going to get pretty upset is what I’m going to do!”

BARGINING
“Please please please please please please let my new xbox still be there”

DEPRESSION
“This sucks. How can someone do this to me and my family. What sort of nihilistic a-hole would invade my house and rifle through my shit?”

ACCEPTANCE
“What? Are you joking? Acceptance? Fuck. That. The next time I see someone snooping round the neighbourhood I’m gonna get the rake outta the shed and beat seven kinds of snot out of them!”


It was the last statement (which I actually did think to myself) that I have come back to ponder in the light of a few recent events in New Zealand. In early June an owner of a liquor outlet Navtej Singh in South Auckland was shot dead, even though he had complied totally with the offenders demands. Since then there have been a spate of shootings and assaults (not entirely related to shop owners) that have been highlighted in the media. A majority of these we all shake our heads, do the old “tut tut” thing and continue on with our lives because we are not shocked by this sort of thing – we have been desensitised to it. It is remote. Its happening to someone else we have nothing to do with, so we feel comfortable dismissing it from the worry centre of our brain and concentrating on more personal matters. Which is all perfectly normal – you can’t expect people to live in total fear because of the worry and stress caused by events which have no immediate impact on their lives. Unless you live in the US of course, and then the Government and media make damn sure you worry about every perceived terrorist threat there could possibly be.

But I digress. On Monday night, two machete wielding offenders charged into a Christchurch dairy and attacked the owner and his wife without provocation. The owner Nike said "Usually in the movies they say 'Give me the money' but they tried to kill us from the very start. It happened really fast. They ran in holding the knife out and started trying to chop me." At this point, Nike whipped out his air pistol that was stashed behind the counter, and shot the knife wielding maniacs, wounding one of them in the face. He saved his life, his wife’s life and didn’t kill anyone in the process. Bravo Nike – well done.

This has raised the obvious question however – should people have the right to arm themselves for protection? I saw on the news tonight, several people calling for the ability of shop owners to defend themselves. What would have happened in any of these situations where a small business owner is confronted by an armed nutter, demanding they “gimme the casshhhhh” is armed with a .357 magnum, or a small .22 pistol? It’s obvious really – the outcome would be much worse. As soon as you arm everyone for “personal protection” you increase the death toll at every robbery. The more guns there are, the more people will get shot and it wont be for reasons of “personal protection” either. You then put a gun in the hands of every husband who has an argument with his wife, of every disgruntled employee who has forgotten the TPS reports, and every bored teenager who feels like taking their frustrations with the world out on someone.

Its relatively hard in New Zealand to get a gun, and although we are seeing an increase of crimes linked with guns, I wouldn’t want to change that. If you see someone with a gun, it stands out – they look out of place and you can identify them as a possible offender because they are armed. If you arm everyone, they blend into the crowd and make them impossible to find. Increasing the number of weapons owned legitimately will make it harder to trace the ones that are not, making it incredibly hard to capture and prosecute successfully people who commit armed offences.

“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people, but if you give everyone a gun, more people will be killed” – proliferation of weapons has never helped solve anything. All it does is give people who are pissed off, down on their luck or just bored something to play with.