A short history of tomorrow by Trevor Plumbly
The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore They’re all at it! Even my blog mates are doing the gloom and doom stuff, so I reckon it must be my turn to announce that the world is going to hell in a handcart. Like the man said back then, ‘The times they are a-changing’. I don’t mind change as long as it’s properly handled, but latterly I’m beginning to doubt the competence of the folk dishing it out. I’ve never had much truck with the ‘those were the days’ culture some oldies cling to,… Read More
Someone to Watch Over Me by Trevor Plumbly
Checks and Balances The killing of children anywhere is always hard to come to terms with, but it gets tougher when it happens in your own home town. There’s little doubt now that Edward Livingstone was a troubled soul, with a history of sexual violence against his partner Katherine, which culminated in her being granted a protection order in May 2013. For some strange reason, this order wasn’t finalised till August of that year. Later, during a supervised visit to their two children aged 6 and 9, Livingstone presented the children with… Read More
Whatever Happened to Outrage by Trevor Plumbly
Swings and Roundabouts New Zealand is a green and peasant land on the face of it, relatively crime free by most other standards and, if the tourist publicity image is to be believed, populated by easy-going folk with a love of the great outdoors, rugby and livestock. But, like everywhere else, we’ve got our dark spots and, just like everywhere else, we’re not quite sure what to do about them. We basically operate under the British system, which god knows has tried for centuries to get to grips with crime. Hanging, hard labour,… Read More
A Policeman’s Lot is not a Happy One by Trevor Plumbly
The Police under Scrutiny Wherever you are these days, not many weeks pass without allegations being levelled at the police ranging from incompetence to corruption. Such allegations are usually whipped up to a frenzy by the media and eagerly lapped up by a scandal-thirsty public. It’s interesting how the relationship between the public and the police has altered over time. Not that long ago the idea of an ‘Independent Police Conduct Authority’ would have been judged as unnecessary by the judiciary and the force itself, but now questioning police performance is regarded… Read More
Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp by Angela Caldin
Have you ever wondered, as I have, why the infamous US detention camp is on the island of Cuba in the first place, given that the two nations are enemies? How did the place where the beautiful guantanamera of song originates come to be chosen as the site of the prison for the hundreds of so-called enemy combatants who were picked up by the US in the wake of 9/11? And have you ever wondered why so many of them are still there even though they have been cleared for release? Why… Read More
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