Friday, March 20, 2009: MMMMM et al.

MMMMM Views: By the time you read this, I will probably have passed 5000 views (erm, total), which I choose to interpret as a major milestone. So yes, thanks to everyone for reading and ensuring that I didn't just give up the moment I had about ten other things on. Next stop: 10,000 views and John Campbell getting fired.

(And replaced by me. In case you couldn't work out what I was getting at.)


Slumblog multimediaire: Disappointed that it's already Friday and, as such, you have to go two days without posts? Don't worry, there are other ways - multimedia ways - to get your dirty fix.

• I will, as usual, be on Jose's Sunday Breakfast, Sunday mornings 9-12 on bFM. If you don't have three hours to sit around twiddling your thumbs, I should be on between 10-11.
  
• There's a reasonable chance that I'll briefly be on Radio New Zealand's Mediawatch show on National Radio on Sunday morning between, say, 9 and 10. No guarantees. You can check here for radio frequencies where you are, or just go here after the show and stream it.
• If you have twenty minutes spare - and, let's face it, if you're here you probably do - you could do worse than watch this segment from last week's Media 7 programme, on school violence and crimes against statistics. The highlight comes at about 14:40, when the host mentions how the story of the dodgy school violence statistics was 'broken' by a humble news-rage blog. Or you could just watch Media 7, either on TVNZ 7 or TVNZ On Demand. But I can't guarantee celebrities ballroom dancing.

Can't take my eyes off of you: One last tidbit before I must adieu. Any "Your Views" questions gets the cranks out, but it takes something about law & order to start an unholy shitfight. Actually, it's less of a fight, and more just a torrent of shit (now I regret that metaphor). So here's a couple of 'highlights' from the YV on 'Would hardline sentencing harm New Zealand's international reputation'. The answer is apparently (c) - 'the death penalty's too good for 'em'. Check it out if you think you need some perspective.

marty28 (Christchurch): The only reputation that NZ has on crime is that we are too soft. Bring back the death penalty, life means life, sale of assets for those that loose an appeal to cover legal aid, shared prison cells and no luxury items, incl cigarettes, in prisons.

With drugs being a big problem, all drug trafficers should be put away for life, or deported to a prison in their home country so we don't have to pay.

Convicted poor parents should be sterilised to prevent them from breeding further, which will also help break the cycle.

albert k (Howick) If toughline sentencing would damage reputation of NZ, wondered how come countries in the Middle East, Singapore & China are able to attract so many visitors /tourists /expatriates?

I say, we will get more visitors and foreign students if we can prove that NZ is tough on crims by putting them away from society for a long long time.

Fed Up (Christchurch) What a load of garbage coming from these Nanny Beauracrats from Foreign Affairs, they must have been appointed by the previous Nanny Govt. Have they seen damage to the USA who have sentences that fit the crime, and they believe your rights are gone when you are convicted of a crime, and I couldn't agree with them more. Time to get new people in Govt Departments that haven't got these Nanny Ideas.