Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Drugs and human rights

Paul Campbell

Tue, 05 Sept 2017 09:38:32 +1200

Today's Tremain

dave stewart

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 19:49:40 +1200

Now where have I heard that before ...
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

Neil

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 18:46:44 +1200

There’s a well established network of gangs trading in weed and P. Not hard to see how that flow of trade works geographically.

Any idea what those specific risks are?

The risks of THC, opiates, E and psychedelics are mainly minor and to the user. They can be mitigated by…

Lynn Yum

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 18:15:56 +1200

I object to calling Bennett a "class traitor". Her callousness and vindictiveness is a matter of public record. There is no need for name calling.

linger

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 17:02:07 +1200

Bigger picture: once again, National is involved in victim-bashing — in this case, victims of National’s own policy settings making more conventional employment less available and less attractive (e.g. 90-day trials, exceptions to minimum wage…), making education or upskilling harder to access, and making accommodation unaffordable for relatively unskilled young…

linger

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 16:43:40 +1200

“the gangs” grand plan is actually hand to mouth
Mostly true. Levitt & Dubner, in Freakonomics Ch.3 “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms?”, show that gang-related drug trade tends to operate as a pyramid scheme, with most gang members involved barely subsisting, while profits are mostly diverted to…

Katharine Moody

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 14:28:39 +1200

The decision would have been Joyce’s, as was the dogwhistle/unwhistle two-step.

Yes. I don't think Steven much cares for Paula. She's expendable.

Paul Campbell

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 13:47:30 +1200

"class traitor" == "I've got mine, screw you" as far as I'm concerned

Bart Janssen

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 13:45:22 +1200

the dark hatred of objectifying human beings

I know this is meant as an insult but it really is worth noting that in a neoliberal world, humans are just resources to be manipulated and spent to maximise profit.

They really do believe humans are objects

Lynn Yum

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 13:42:05 +1200

I find the cynicism of the National party knows no bounds.

By most accounts they are underfunding the police. They allow the drug dealers and robbers of dairies to feel like they can operate with impunity. They themselves are part of the problem.

To solve that problem they want to…

Bart Janssen

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 13:41:58 +1200

English seeks to walk it all back on Morning Report.

As noted in the morning TV panel later on – "Even if she misspoke, if she said it, it's because she thought it"

dave stewart

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 12:52:46 +1200

Oh, and keeping with the dog metaphor:
Bennett & English are dog tucker!

dave stewart

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 12:50:30 +1200

Not sure who's comments are more disturbing – English or Bennett's.
Both are very similar in sentiment to the propaganda from some of the worst villains of the 20th century: Hitler, Stalin, Mao's gang of 4 etc.
No media comments from any constitutional experts yet?
Of course it seems like…

Neil

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 12:35:23 +1200

Gangs do play a major role in pushing P into already vulnerable communities.

P is unlike most other drugs in terms of its risks and those making and distributing are knowingly selling misery.

Bennett was wrong to talk of people having less rights but the strategy of coming down hard…

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 10:45:08 +1200

A stinging statement from the National Committee for Addiction Treatment:

“People across the spectrum of society experience the impact of drug addiction. When people are made to feel less worthy than others it makes it very difficult for them to reach out for help.

“So at a time when we’re…

Sacha

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 10:14:05 +1200

I'm reckoning that Bill English has thought through this statement and is hoping to turn the election discourse away from housing poverty jobs and the environment to one about the constitution and law n order.

The decision would have been Joyce's, as was the dogwhistle/unwhistle two-step.

Shaun Lott

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 09:47:00 +1200

My initial thought was exactly that: my impression of Paula Bennett is that she is an ambitious party hack who is not that smart, and I doubt she has a tight grasp on what human rights are, how they might differ from the legal rights of a potential suspect etc.…

Matthew Hooton

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 09:34:56 +1200

Bennett WANTS to be challenged by academics and opponents. She wants to bash PC liberal lawyers and professors

Correct. And very astute of Jacinda Ardern not to rise to the bait and risk being seen to defend P dealers and gang members.

Craig Young

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 09:28:35 +1200

It seems to be being reported as a misstep. In stating that human rights and civil liberties would be infringed, Bennett has placed the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons within what has become a very tight electoral race. Chris Finlayson and Amy Adams will be very pissed off at her…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 08:56:25 +1200

I don't even know what a class traitor is. And I don't think she is a cunning/ignorant sociopath. She isn't particularly clever and her position in the National party is an indication that they have hit rock bottom.
Class traitor implies rather more self-awareness than Bennett's ever demonstrated. At best…

Tom Semmens

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 08:13:02 +1200

When I heard this policy I thought straight away, wow those internal poll numbers must look bad. This is dangerous blustering from a desperate government that has completely run out of fresh ideas and from a minister who happily uses the civil service and private information to target the enemies…

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 08:06:32 +1200

English seeks to walk it all back on Morning Report.

Mr English told Morning Report Mrs Bennett had misused the term human rights.

"It's just not the right way to describe human rights," he said.

"She understands the policy the right way, but it was a discussion about the legal…

william blake

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 07:22:39 +1200

Adam H

Mon, 04 Sept 2017 07:19:57 +1200

And there we have it: proof that Key really was the moderating influence on National.

And a warning for all those who look at the USA / UK and think "it couldn't happen here"

Paul Campbell

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 22:53:35 +1200

Bill English says it's a good thing we don't have a written constitution because it gives him more power, maybe it's time we did

Russell Brown

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 19:41:45 +1200

Dr Jarrod Gilbert has written a scorching column:

National are proposing to give police powers to search gang members without a warrant. Allowing police the power to march through people's houses at their will is a power that if targeted against anybody else (the parents of wealthy school children, for instance)…

simon g

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 18:57:10 +1200

Remember that they won't actually be voted back in, as currently constituted: they can (realistically) only form a government with NZ First. So that would actually be a more conservative/authoritarian government than Key's.

Since they won't want to hand over much influence on economic policy, National would throw Winston all…

Katharine Moody

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 18:43:55 +1200

Simply shocking language from Paula Bennett and the PM. The PM's actual words as reported in the news went something like 'it's a good thing we don't have a written constitution because we can deal with things more effectively'. Meaning we can run roughshod over anything we like because our…

simon g

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 18:33:43 +1200

Sir John Key may have to be arrested (without a warrant, obviously) for associating with gangs.

Really, there are dozens of confused and contradictory stories on this: National in opposition a decade ago pledging to win the War on P, National in government assuring us that the war is being…

Paul Campbell

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 18:30:02 +1200

One of these days we have to give the bill of rights act more teeth, and everyone in NZ should know those rights and be able to quote them back to politicians when they start to propose this sort of crazy

Hear that Labour? first things for your proposed civics…

Thomas Lumley

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 18:25:45 +1200

By personal and professional inclination I would have loved to believe in the Social Investment Unit, but not when it's run by a government that would make this sort of policy.

There's no way their expert advice can say meth contamination is a leading public-health problem. Or that drug dogs…

Public Address

Sun, 03 Sept 2017 18:25:45 +1200

Discussion from blog post.