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Showing Tag: " law" (Show all posts)

Lawyer Simon Watters ruffles feathers at quiz night

Posted by Matt Hayden on Tuesday, September 2, 2014,
Every now and then someone of high social standing flouts this age's politically correct conventions and gets severely spanked in the media for it. The latest example is local lawyer Simon Watters, who apparently indulged in some off-colour humour while emcee of a recent quiz night.

I wasn't there to see what's been reported. Maybe it's a beat up as he and others have claimed. And it should be remembered that whenever humour's involved there's always the matter of tone. Sometimes people are tr...
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Mark McGowan's medical marijuana push a tactical error

Posted by Matt Hayden on Sunday, July 6, 2014,
Alannah MacTiernan isn't the only Labor politician moving alarmingly to the green left. There are clearly others in WA Labor who've been afflicted with this tendency, including the leader Mark McGowan. His endorsement of medical marijuana is a case in point.

I have no strong feelings about this proposed policy. If it helps people who are suffering, great. But he should remember that a big chunk of the population have a strong emotional reaction when it comes to the issue of drugs. It doesn't ...
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Racist abuse of Nic Naitanui on Twitter reveals PC double standard

Posted by Matt Hayden on Saturday, March 15, 2014,
When I first heard about high profile West Aussie footballer Nic Naitanui copping racial abuse on Twitter I assumed it was at the hands of an Anglo. But it seems that the alleged perpetrator was of Vietnamese descent since his surname is Nguyen.

Just goes to show that racism is not always whites abusing non-whites. In this case the local Equal Opportunity Commissioner is condemning the abuse. But I wonder if this would be the case if the victim were white, in particular a white straight male. ...

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The Crime Factory and Cowboys in Uniform

Posted by Matt Hayden on Monday, April 15, 2013,
On the weekend I read a report about a controversial book about the WA Police Force. It seems that a former serving constable by the name of Ian Patton has been named by the press as the writer of this book. But he vehemently denies this.

My first assumption upon reading the headline was that the book in question was The Crime Factory, which I posted about earlier. But this book's title is actually Cowboys in Uniform. It appears possible that they are entirely separate works.

If this is the cas...
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Man berates drunk girls at Innaloo McDonalds

Posted by Matt Hayden on Tuesday, March 12, 2013,
Still on the subject of Innaloo: The McDonalds there was the scene of an altercation filmed on a mobile phone that was ultimately reported internationally. Basically some drunk girls were being antisocial and throwing their food around. One older bloke was disgusted, got up and confronted them.

This event, as well as many I've seen with my own eyes, shows just how much society has changed in the last several decades. Sure, there were always drunken, antisocial idiots. But there are certainly ...
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Perth's train lines better policed and managed than Sydney's

Posted by Matt Hayden on Thursday, November 8, 2012,
I live in Mosman Park now, and often go into the city by train. When heading back I've noticed that after Claremont Station the transit cops pretty much always check the passengers' tickets and SmartRiders. Every now and then you see some poor bugger get nabbed for not having a valid ticket and thereby copping a fine.

Cynics would no doubt argue that the reason they're so assiduous about this is because the Government wants to raise revenue. And I think they'd have a point.

But there's also a ...
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Out-of-control party legislation targets organizers

Posted by Matt Hayden on Wednesday, September 26, 2012,
Out of control parties are a scourge in this city. The Government has tabled new legislation to crack down on the problem. Part of it involves punishing the party holders if things get out of hand.

Under the proposed laws, a person who organises a gathering of 12 people - at which two people break the law - could face a year in jail or a $12,000 fine and an additional penalty of paying back the cost of police resources.

Not surprisingly the Civil Liberties Council of WA has deemed the laws ove...
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Ecstasy rating site's popularity here doesn't surprise me

Posted by Matt Hayden on Wednesday, September 12, 2012,
A website that rates the relative quality of different batches of ecstasy is proving to be very popular with users of the drug in this city. While the site's stated intention is to aid the process of harm minimization, medical authorities are appalled by it.

It doesn't surprise me that this site gets a lot of traffic from Perth. There are obviously a lot of users here. And they often turn to the internet to find drug related information.

I've learned this from the traffic stats to this site. ...
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The drug DMT is now being made in meth-ravaged Perth

Posted by Matt Hayden on Sunday, April 29, 2012,
Perth has a real problem with drug abuse in general and "ice" in particular. It seems that not a week goes by without at least one clandestine meth lab exploding in a house or unit somewhere out in the suburbs.

And you do see a surprising number of people who seem to be under the influence of the drug, or ravaged by its long term use. I was on a bus into the city a few months ago and this very wound-up young guy got on. My first thought was that he was high on meth. And sure enough he soon sta...
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Three thieves run amok in Claremont, Cottesloe and Como

Posted by Matt Hayden on Tuesday, April 10, 2012,
Having recently moved to Mosman Park, I've been walking down to Cottesloe Beach in the afternoons lately. While wandering down that way at about 4.30 PM yesterday, I saw a police paddy wagon zoom north, sirens blazing, along Marmion St. At the time I thought it was probably heading to a pub in Cottesloe, or maybe Claremont, to deal with a drunken brawl. But I think it may have been attending to this criminal rampage.

Inspector Mal Anderson said the crime spree started about 4pm yesterday with ...
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Agencies launch anti-violence campaign

Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, March 30, 2012,
Here's more confirmation of the increasing violence in Perth: The state government is launching a massive, coordinated anti-violence campaign:

The plan, backed by more than 30 agencies across health, education, corrective services and police sectors, calls for more health nurses to help troubled children, compulsory alcohol and drug education in schools and more public transport after midnight to stop loitering.

It singles out alcohol as a major cause of violence and calls for tighter controls ...

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Premier Colin Barnett laments Perth's increasing violence

Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, March 9, 2012,
Having returned to Perth from Sydney close to two years ago, one thing I noticed was how many news reports of amazingly vicious and violent attacks there were in this city. There even seemed to be more than when I was last here in 2006-2007 (I was shocked at all the mayhem being reported at that time, too). But even that period was far worse than when I was growing up here in the 70s and 80s.

I wondered that perhaps this was a kind of illusion resulting from my greater interest in news and cur...
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Mt Lawley train station

Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, April 22, 2011,
Many of the older railway stations in Perth have been substantially improved, if not completely rebuilt, in recent years. But some have remained pretty much the same. One of these is Mt Lawley train station.

The shot below was taken looking away from Perth and north towards Midland.



Mt Lawley is a very comfortable, leafy suburb. While not as well off as, say, Peppermint Grove, it's certainly well to do. The area to the left of the photo above certainly boasts many impressive, large and stylish ...
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Good books about and set in Perth and Fremantle
Perth
Line of Sight
When War Came to Fremantle
The Devil's Garden
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