Saturday 14 March 2015

Israel praised for minimising civilian casualties

A task force of several retired American military officials says Israel “systemically applied established rules of conduct that adhered to or exceeded the Law of Armed Conflict,"' But will this be enough to counter the anti-Semitic propaganda aimed at de-legitimising Israel, including from the UN?
JNS.org – A new report on last summer’s Gaza war praises Israel’s efforts to minimize civilian casualties. The report, titled “2014 Gaza War Assessment:…
algemeiner.com

Friday 6 March 2015

The Criminal Justice System is a growth industry,

The forthcoming killing of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran continues to horrify the Australian public, but the cause of this travesty of justice escapes most people. It is the ever-failing “war on drugs” that is the problem. The Criminal Justice System is a growth industry, as evident in this latest splurge by the Victorian Government. It will not reduce the “scourge”, but inevitably exacerbate the problem because of the inevitable consequences of prohibition. Certainly, the death penalty does deter some people, but it is clearly not a total deterrent, because obviously there continue to be sufficient people who think they will get away with it to keep the illegal drug trade prospering. Every time a “drug lord” is caught, a gang war follows and there are plenty of deputies ready to take over, each more ruthless than their predecessor. While the Lawyers and crime bureaucrats prosper as well as the untaxed, unregulated drug traders themselves, the situation will continue to become more of a social problem. Meanwhile, these two young men will die, along with the many others who suffer as a result of this misplaced law. When will society put the wowsers in their place, accept that recreational drugs will always be popular, and regulate them instead of distorting the market with a failed prohibition that results in far worse problems that are caused by the drugs themselves?
MORE drug and booze buses, needle exchanges and police crackdowns on drug labs will be the key strategies to tackle the scourge of ice use in Victoria.
heraldsun.com.au
The forthcoming killing of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran continues to horrify the Australian public, but the cause of this travesty of justice escapes most people. It is the ever-failing “war on drugs” that is the problem. The Criminal Justice System is a growth industry, as evident in this latest splurge by the Victorian Government. It will not reduce the “scourge”, but inevitably exacerbate the problem because of the inevitable consequences of prohibition. Certainly, the death penalty does deter some people, but it is clearly not a total deterrent, because obviously there continue to be sufficient people who think they will get away with it to keep the illegal drug trade prospering. Every time a “drug lord” is caught, a gang war follows and there are plenty of deputies ready to take over, each more ruthless than their predecessor. While the Lawyers and crime bureaucrats prosper as well as the untaxed, unregulated drug traders themselves, the situation will continue to become more of a social problem. Meanwhile, these two young men will die, along with the many others who suffer as a result of this misplaced law. When will society put the wowsers in their place, accept that recreational drugs will always be popular, and regulate them instead of distorting the market with a failed prohibition that results in far worse problems that are caused by the drugs themselves?
MORE drug and booze buses, needle exchanges and police crackdowns on drug labs will be the key strategies to tackle the scourge of ice use in Victoria.
heraldsun.com.au