On the Crime and Punishment Wagon

The agenda from the Nicky ‘Wagon’er Cut Crime in Christchurch meeting was clearly about alcohol & related mayhem, cannabis wasn’t even mentioned by ANY of the presenters at the table.

There was a clear agenda that ANYONE considered pissed would be spending the night with Mr Cliff & Friends (except if your a young girl out to lunch and you get a free ride home), yes, the “NY” broken windows was force du jour with the underlying tenet of zero tolerance of all crimeincluding riding your bike without a helmet – but there was no connect with broken windows being about ‘environment’ aesthetics (the O’Connell Hippothesis – a big idea with teeth but wallowing in some muddled politics).

Then… out comes the statement from the Police after the meeting that elevated intolerance towards cannabis was permissible even desirable due to the gang/money connection.

“Alcohol would be a focus, as would cannabis because it was still the key income generator for organised crime, he said.” [PRESS.CO.NZ]

Now with the ‘right’ (to which they may not be entitled – Minister of Health 1975) to stop anyone anytime – in a car or not, in the back seat or not etc. we can realistically expect the same outcome as NY. This is done under the aegis of local government “liquor free zone” bylaw enforcment. But we are told its a central govt. issue. Direct your objections there…

New York – New York City has been the pot-bust capital of the world for a decade, since Rudolph Giuliani’s decision to make public toking a top police priority. A new study sponsored by the New York Civil Liberties Union says the city’s cannabis crackdown is both racist and fraudulent.
….
“we will tame New York by bringing the black and brown people under control” and “no offense is too petty.” Of the people arrested for misdemeanor pot possession from 1997 through 2006, five out of six were black or Latino, in a city that is almost half white and Asian. Nine out of ten were male, and most were aged 16 to 25.
….
the policy a waste of money – at an estimated $1,500 to $2,500 per arrest, it cost the city $60 to $100 million last year, at a time when Mayor Michael Bloomberg is slashing the city budget and closing libraries on weekends. (cf: Parker raising rents 25%, Moore closing Libaries and Pools)

….
the marijuana-arrest program works to “familiarize, socialize, and prepare disadvantaged black and Latino teenagers and young adults from poor neighborhoods for the routines and expectations of the police, court, jail, and prison system.”
….
New York’s cannabis crackdown is both racist and fraudulent – and that more have been arrested under “You bet I did – and I enjoyed it” Bloomberg than intolerant Giuliani.

There is a parallel. I have absolutely no doubt Media Mayor Bob Parker enjoyed inhaling it as well. He was rankled as all hell at any suggestion he achieved high office on the back of the ‘inner city, bar on every corner, brown fields development’ alcohol ticket. (cf property developer David Henderson’s $60,000+ campaign contribution with ‘no strings!’ Yeah Right!)

Yes, Mr Parker, the message is loud and clear, and you need to hear it from us. “You may as well have got your ‘golden chains’ money off Al Capone himself.”

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Every Man and His Dog runs for Mayor

media release: http://blair4mayor.com

Every Man and His Dog runs for Mayor.

Social Policy commentator Blair Anderson confirms that this day, the 24th August, he registered his candidacy for Mayor of Christchurch.

With some ten odd candidates lining up for the governance of one of the finest municipalities in the land, the mayoral race is looking more like an ‘every man and his dog’ race.

“I earnestly hope that the ‘meatspace’ media give some equity to all the good candidates and stop pretending this is the ‘Megan and Bob Show’.” says the second tilt candidate.

“Mayor Blair” Anderson is the only Mayoral Candidate to be sponsored by a dog. Yes, ‘Holmes’ who featured on the front page of the PRESS (May 2006) for catching a ‘drug’ burglar flogging tobacco from the Wainoni Dairy (opp Christchurch’s Porritt Park) has, in the interests of full disclosure, contributed to the BlairForMayor election deposit.

Mayor Blair was heard to say in the Cashel Mall on announcing the formal intention to run for the golden chains, that it was “a logical and mutual association to receive such support”.

Anderson went on to say “The metaphor of the marginalised dog kept behind high fences and on short leads is the root of a great deal of the social dysfunction across all of New Zealand, no less so in Christchurch.”

When Central Government makes the rules, it is often the local bodies who have to pick up the tab and are expected to implement and account for the policy.

As NZ’s first candidate sponsored by a dog, Anderson declared his vested interests in community dog policy and announced that “as Mayor” he would move to make the government mandated ‘microchips’ a life time dog registration. “What does it cost to keep a name on a list, GOOGLE would do it for free!” he said.

Further as Mayoral Candidate he noted that he wasn’t even required to give up his birth date to run for Mayor, and further more that along with his offer of giving three years of ‘civic duty’ to his city, his dog registration would be 150% of what it costs to be a mayoral candidate. “What’s wrong with this picture?”

Dog fees have escalated to a revenue gathering tax that on evidence has done little or nothing to prevent serious canine behaviours and continuing bite tragedies. The media moral panic and subsequent baying for blood and inevitably calls for more rules (Some school children now want ALL dogs muzzled) fail to notice that 600,000 plus dogs in New Zealand didn’t bite anyone today.

Lifetime licenses for micro-chipped dogs? Why not?

We maintain our Electoral Roles via Internet, why can’t we be trusted to do the same for our dogs.

We need more socialised dogs. That’s a start.

More on Blair’s insightful vision for Christchurch “Smart City, Clever People”
http://blairformayor.blogspot.com/2007/08/smart-city-clever-people.html

competing interests: http://doglinks.co.nz/

‹(•¿•)› Blair Anderson
ph (643) 389 4065 cell 027 265 7219

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