Archive for 2010|Yearly archive page

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Live Report: Assange Makes Bail But Still In Jail

In Rory MacKinnon on December 15, 2010 at 3:17 pm

[UPDATE: The Swedish prosecution team has chosen to appeal Assange's release; Assange will remain in custody at Wandsworth Prison until a third hearing later this week.]

Confusion reigned outside a Westminster courtroom today as freedom of information campaigner Julian Assange was granted bail – but had to return to prison without speaking to supporters and the press.

Above: Documentarian and Justice For Assange spokesperson Sharon Warrd.

The infamous WikiLeaks editor was jailed by a UK court last week, pending an extradition hearing that could see him transported to Sweden for questioning in a bizarre sex crimes investigation. Read the rest of this entry »

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False Economy: The Case For Private Prisons

In Rory MacKinnon on October 27, 2010 at 9:00 am

[Originally published in Werewolf magazine, October 2010]

When National won the 2008 general election by a landslide, the pundits were quick to attribute their popularity to two things: a promise to get tough on crime and an equally fervent promise to cut taxes by reducing government expenditure. But nearly two years on, the contradictory nature of these goals is increasingly obvious: it costs a lot to keep someone captive in a first-world nation, and the ideological commitment of recent governments to prison-as-punishment is doing more to create a Nanny State than any number of banned lightbulbs.

Corrections spending has more than doubled over the last ten years, with custodial services alone now costing taxpayers over $890 million  a year – more than the entire budget for Youth Affairs, Maori Affairs, Pacific Island Affairs, foreign aid and senior citizens combined. Read the rest of this entry »

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Soft On Crime: McCully’s Moral Duty To West Papua

In Rory MacKinnon on October 23, 2010 at 3:16 pm

 

With all the Hobbit-chat of late you could be forgiven for thinking it was a slow newsweek – but here at the Scoop offices it was nothing of the sort. On Monday the independent West Papua Media network released video it had received of Indonesian soldiers torturing two Papuan men: punching and kicking them, running a bayonet over one’s throat and burning the other’s penis with a charred stick.[WARNING: link features real and graphic violence]

Within hours the horrific footage made the headlines of Al-Jazeera, the BBC, CNN and the Sydney Morning Herald, while Amnesty International and other NGOs demanded an independent investigation by Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission.

Meanwhile coverage here in the Shire was practically non-existent, other than here at Scoop and the equally tiny newsroom at Radio New Zealand International. Read the rest of this entry »

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Paul Henry, TVNZ & Apologies As Apologia

In Rory MacKinnon on October 5, 2010 at 1:12 pm


It’d be remiss of me to go without saying anything about Paul Henry’s latest ratings ploy and TVNZ’s bizarre attempt at damage control. But on this occasion maybe it’d be better to let the players speak for themselves.

Paul Henry to John Key on the country’s next Governor-General: “Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time … Are we going to go for someone who is more like a New Zealander this time?”

Paul Henry yesterday: “The comments that I made were perfectly clear, and I have no particular interest in discussing them any further….some people are very easily offended.”
Paul Henry today: “I am sincerely sorry if I seemed disrespectful to him (Sir Anand), that was not what I intended and I certainly didn’t intend to sound racist.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Objectively Wrong: Fun Facts With Lindsay Perigo

In Rory MacKinnon on August 30, 2010 at 7:33 pm

There is a thing in ideological debates called the “No True Scotsman” fallacy. It usually shows up when something embarrassing happens which undermines one person’s argument; and it goes like this:

“Look at these Sassenach louts drinking and fighting and mugging old ladies! No Scotsman would do such a thing. Well, no true Scotsman.”

I mention this because a funny thing happened today on the way to the blogosphere. Matt McCarten in the Herald On Sunday:

ACT was founded on the odious principle that human greed is the driving force of human progress and is to be celebrated as some sort of religion. The cultists worship at the altar of their prophet, Ayn Rand, and delude themselves if everyone only focuses on getting what they want, then somehow this is good for everyone. Read the rest of this entry »

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Inside The Sensible Sentencing Conference

In Rory MacKinnon on August 26, 2010 at 7:20 pm

So many; I had not thought death had undone so many.
-T.S. Eliot

It’s my first time at a Sensible Sentencing conference, but there’s a distinct sense of deja vu as I wind my way across the Beehive’s banquet hall to my seat. I put it down to all the familiar faces; faces I’ve seen a hundred times before with a slight phosphor blur outside dozens of High Courts.

Eva the publicist has assured us we’re welcome, but a greying man in Sensible Sentencing merchandise – cap and khaki polo shirt – eyes me warily. The family of Karen Jacobs, killed by a partner with mental illness in 1997, are sitting directly across from the press table but avoid eye contact altogether. We are, after all, the Liberal Media. But I’m here today – just like the politicians and police and judges and defense lawyers – to hear Sensible Sentencing’s supporters firsthand and find out what they want from our justice system. If only it were that easy. Read the rest of this entry »

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OIAs & NZ’s “Assistance” In Afghanistan

In Rory MacKinnon on August 20, 2010 at 5:47 pm

The reports on New Zealand’s connection to a notorious Afghanistan prison all came and went in the space of a day, but it’s been on my mind a lot this week. Not the war itself, mind you, or the moral dilemmas of detainment – but the Government’s assurances back in February that it would be more candid about New Zealand’s operations in Afghanistan; assurances which six months on are hard to see as anything but a broken promise.

That infamous photo of SAS corporal Willie Apiata in February supposedly sparked a seachange in the Government’s PR policy. It is a fact, Prime Minister John Key told us, that “New Zealanders deserve to know what our forces are doing overseas on location”.

Yet the response from both the Prime Minister and the New Zealand Defence Force on the issue of arrests has revealed a continued and deliberate campaign of obfuscation and omission. Read the rest of this entry »

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Curia & Curiouser: Farrar, Bhatnagar and Big Baccy

In Rory MacKinnon on July 13, 2010 at 4:49 pm

http://web.me.com/aaronbhatnagar/sandvox/_Media/aaron_judges_bay.jpeg

[UPDATE - David responds]

The NZ Association of Convenience Stores (another pro-tobacco lobby group helmed by Glenn Inwood) put out a press release this morning claiming that 60% of retailers opposed a display ban on cigarettes.

Leaving aside the little tidbit that nearly a third of the association’s constituents actually want the ban, Lyndon here at the Scoop offices Stephen Judd noticed something odd about the PDF of polling data supporting this. Read the rest of this entry »

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Kean On Columbia: An Unapologetic Shill

In Rory MacKinnon on July 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm

[By David Farrar, Keith Ng, Rob Salmond, Tim Watkin (and now me)]

Many people are concerned about the quality of public affairs journalism in New Zealand. Being concerned is a good start, but how can you take the next step? How can you help make it better? Yes, you.

Here is one way. Follow this link and vote for Nicola Kean in the AMP “Do Your Thing” Scholarship competition.

It is an online popularity contest, and the winner gets $10,000 to help them pursue their dreams. Voting is quick, easy, free, and for a good cause. Of course, there are many, many fantastic applicants for this award, and we are not opposed to any one of them winning the money. We’re just especially in favour of Nicola winning, because of the value that her dream holds for all of us. Read the rest of this entry »

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Monkey See, Monkey Cease & Desist : Ah, Mondays

In Rory MacKinnon on July 13, 2010 at 11:29 am

Evil monkey from the movie about the evil monkey that smiles awkwardly by scragzNever a dull day at the Scoop offices…

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing on behalf of [REDACTED], its subsidiaries and affiliates ([REDACTED]).

[REDACTED] has become aware that there exists an unauthorized use of [REDACTED]‘s copyrightable material on multiple pages of the scoop.co.nz website (the “Scoop Website”), which we understand to be owned and operated by Scoop Media Ltd.

The content in question is a series of financial text reports entitled [REDACTED], developed by or on behalf of [REDACTED] that it utilizes in connection with its financial businesses. Read the rest of this entry »

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