War on Drugs: Impact to National Security

"The United Nations reported that since 1994, the sales of illegal drugs has been the number one revenue source for terrorists all over the world. Experts testifying before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the spring of 2007 reported that Al-Qaeda will earn some US$3 billion dollars selling Afghanistan’s heroin and opium. Thousands of dedicated federal agents are pursuing marijuana and coca patches instead of people who fly airplanes into buildings. Such are the unintended consequences of our nation’s policy of drug prohibition and its strategy of War on Drugs.” War on Drugs: Impact to National Security : Novakeo.com:

So why do media pretend "they dont get the connection?" WOD/Human Rights? Sense of security and participation in our Community? Systemic and now chronic mistrust, increasing alienation, deviency amplifying policy that increasingly looks like and responds like an internal occupation force. And we pretend the Police are not indisrepute?

That a resignation of a now former police officer is enough to heal whats broken.... who sold us this pup and why do we unquestioningly suck up to this WOD Molloch?

Police will not be respected until we understand what changed.

MAXIM & the Electoral Commision Report

As reported by MAXIM

 

>The Electoral Commission suggested that while 72 percent say they have an interest in politics, it is well-known that the younger age group are more likely not to vote.

see http://www.maxim.org.nz/index.cfm/Real_Issues/Print_Version?issueid=

1. MMP threshold at 5% is an order of magnitude (1%) higher than it needs to be or was recommended by the royal commission . This continues to  make it difficult for anyone to vote confidently for alternatives to the two party  dominance (ie: strategic voting alters the table of choices, thus disenfranchises voices/engagement/participation). Youth relevant issues are displaced where and when politicians see no 'election value' in soliciting these votes.  {STV would have covered this base.... ]

2.  Youth opinions are ignored politically. Both nationaly and locally.

They are marginalised by legislative breaches of the human rights act/bill of rights by targeted  legislation [ie: 'boy racer'' = ageist/sexist ] and other application of the law (drug policy in disrepute in particular) leading to disproportionate media branding of the 'adolescent as a feared class'. This is wholly unjustified and pejorative in the extreme. (John Kirwin, where are you?).  Youth rejection of  social value systems, alienation from rule of law and deviency amplification are a consequence of POLICY and political/media/populist 'hate speech' that are  decontructions of the truth/reality  in order to justify status quo thinking. [STV would have ensured all voices were 'equitably' at the table ]

Decouple these two identified impediments and voter participation will increase.. no education required.

Looking forward to that conversation. /Blair

/Blair

--
Blair Anderson  ‹(•¿•)›

Social Ecologist 'at large'
http://mildgreens.blogspot.com
http://blairformayor.blogspot.com
http://blair4mayor.com

ph (643) 389 4065   cell 027 265 7219

Hot Science with Kim Hill - the big C and C question?

Climate Change Part 6 - the audience C and C question?

We continue with questions from the audience, starting with a representative from the Global Commons Institute... http://www.bigpod.co.nz/Default.aspx?tms_id=116&tabid=56 (<4Mb)

The Press and MAF present 'Hot Science with Kim Hill'. In a series of three public seminars. The Press welcomes some of New Zealand's top experts and scientists who will ponder and debate (1) The water wars (2) Climate change and (3) Our land of milk and honey. The series was recorded in front of a live audience at Christchurch's James Hay Theatre on July 23'07, July 30'07 and August 6'07.

MAXIM on Youth, Drugs and Crime

Tackling youth crime

The Conservative-affiliated British think tank, the Centre for Social Justice, has launched a "comprehensive and radical inquiry" into youth gang crime. The launch highlights the continuing problems of social disconnection, family breakdown and crime that are perplexing not just Britain but the entire Western world, including New Zealand.

The inquiry comes from a growing concern about trends in youth gang crime, and the lack of direction on what to do about it. Alarming statistics include that the "most likely person to be equipped with a knife is a boy aged 14-19 years old," that "1504 of the young people held in custody are 16 years old or younger," and that "three-quarters of male offenders aged between 18 and 21 re-offend within two years." The Centre suggests that these statistics stem from "high levels of family breakdown, school failure in the inner cities and teenage drug and alcohol abuse."

The inquiry seeks to develop long-term solutions, combining both "carrots as well as sticks." It seeks not just to punish, but to prevent; encouraging young people to become connected members of their community, and eliminating the need to find acceptance and family within the gang culture. The suggestion is that while enforcement strategies such as the "zero tolerance" approach in New York may go some way to controlling crime, this should be balanced with developing and encouraging clubs, facilities and events for youths to be involved in, which will help in "giving young people a genuine stake in society."

This is a community problem that requires a community response. These are issues that need to be tackled head-on, and the Centre for Social Justice deserves credit for refusing to dodge them. While the detailed policy is some way off, they show us a genuine way forward, one which draws on a long and honourable tradition of social reform and community co-operation to produce practical solutions. Real change is desperately needed; not just to punish crime, but to rebuild connection with families and communities, giving young people hope and pride, and a stake in their society's future.

• Read Action on Teenage Gang Crime

• Write to the editor

Lets all pretend we don't have any clue what so ever as to what is leading this matrix of social dysfunction, or have anyone 'out of left field' speak who might have some insight into what needs to be done...meanwhile we continue a policy of "Isolation and Stigmatization" in the Development of an Underclass. John Kirwin, where are you?

 

High rates of delinquency are said to be encouraged by the effect of poverty on parenting and the supply of delinquent peers (James, 1995; Weatherburn & Lind, 2001). This leads to suggestions that policies that reduce inequality and deprivation will also lead to reductions in drugrelated crime. The evidence for this suggestion is extremely hard to assess. It is very difficult to evaluate the impact of policies in reducing unemployment and income inequality, improving health,

Other countries have made deliberate attempts to reduce crime through social development, including Canada, France, Australia and Finland (The John Howard Society of Alberta, 1995). Despite the lack of conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of this approach, the strong theoretical support and empirical evidence for the link between social deprivation and drug-related crime means that we can assume that effective measures to tackle social exclusion will also have an impact on rates of drug related crime.

http://www.internationaldrugpolicy.net/reports/BeckleyFoundation_Report_05.pdf

Blair Anderson  ‹(•¿•)›

Social Ecologist 'at large'
http://mildgreens.blogspot.com
http://blairformayor.blogspot.com
http://blair4mayor.com

ph (643) 389 4065   cell 027 265 7219

"the best hope we have" Lloyds of London (Google Ed. Sumit)

Notes from the Google Education Summit: Posted by Mehran Sahami, Research Scientist

Contraction and Convergence (viewed by Lloyds of London as "the best hope we have")

The first report examines our domestic potential to to reduce our carbon emissions to zero within 20 years. Named ZeroCarbonBritain, the report is a result of over a year's consolidated research by the Centre for Alternative Technology .

It sets out the policy drivers required to achieve zero carbon Britain by 2027, and presents the scenario for using only proven (renewable) technology. Quite simply, the technology already exists to make the UK carbon neutral (without the need to resort to nuclear), but what is required is political determination\and changes in the way we, as a society, view energy.
An ambitious, bold plan, but most importantly, it can be done. Here and now. Here's how:

3 steps are needed to achieve zero carbon Britain by 2027 -
1. policy implementation of Contraction & Convergence and the use of Tradable Energy Quotas (carbon credit cards)
2. powering down our fossil fuel use, and
3. powering up our use of renewable energy generation

Moreover, it's an equitable solution to climate change, energy security and global equity.

The essential policy driver needed is the implementation of Contraction and Convergence (viewed by Lloyds of London as "the best hope we have"), a co-ordinated plan to reduce carbon emissions by allocating a equal share per capita basis from a limited budget, as proposed by the Global Commons Institute .

C&C In a nutshell:
Contraction: An international cap on emissions is set for the next 20 years, the amount allocated annually reduced year on year until it reaches zero in 2027.
Convergence: Each nation receives receives a national share allocation which is then divided equally per person. Over the 20 years, the allocations are reduced to a point that everyone on the planet has an equal share.

These share allocations, called Tradable Energy Quotas? (TEQs) can be traded, bought and sold between individuals and businesses. Each year the cap on TEQs is reduced, so there are fewer to share, in line with the national budget. Gradually, individuals and companies would have to learn to make low and zero-carbon choices, due to the cost or inconvenience of doing otherwise. TEQs are tradable, and represent a source of income for cash poor households. Essentially carbon credits become a kind of parallel currency. Very quickly we would be scrapping the petrol engine, improving building standards, changing the way we produce and consume food and investing heavily in renewable energy. All it needs now is political backbone to make this a reality.

(NZ's signatary status to its international carbon trading commitments with GB, require us to examine what GB is doing.. how come they get to talk about C&C and we dont.? /Blair)

--
Blair Anderson ‹(•¿•)›

Social Ecologist 'at large'
http://mildgreens.blogspot.com/
http://blairformayor.blogspot.com/
http://blair4mayor.com/

ph (643) 389 4065 cell 027 265 7219

National's Key Crimes Initiatives

Editorial

 

Open Letter to National's Mr Key.

 

Since when does the requirement for 1250 more police signal 'success'  when in reality it is a sign of abject failure. These additional resources are not free Mr Key.

A sign of successful policing would a thousand less Police, Mr Key. District Commander Sandy Manderson placed the responsibility for 70% of crime on drug policy, specifically alcohol, whereas Welsh Police administration is saying 70% of crime is caused by drug policy failure .

[ Legalise all drugs: chief constable demands end to 'immoral laws'   Independent, UK - 14 Oct 2007 Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, advocates an end to UK drug policy based on "prohibition".]

 

Someone is connecting the dots, Mr Key. There is our highly indicated policy initiative. Stop pandering to the electorate as being 'tough on crime' while you and yours irresponsibly abrogate control of drugs to criminal networks.  Prohibition is not a conservative policy, it is radical invention of the 1970's. National's Mr Key is still running around with the same old toolkit in the forlorn hope that the longer he hangs onto it, it might fix something. 

 

Nothing will undermine the prevalence of crime in this country more than wholesale drug policy reform and that wont come until we have the required conversation Mr Key.

 

If you want to fix whats broken National, start with a self examinination of your own policy principals.

There is nothing there that supports 'crime making policy' or deluding the public while filtching from it's purse.

 

Blair Anderson  ‹(•¿•)›
Social Ecologist 'at large'
http://mildgreens.blogspot.com
http://blairformayor.blogspot.com
http://blair4mayor.com

ph (643) 389 4065   cell 027 265 7219