This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. the Australian parliament got hung, courtesy of voters [1]. At least it wasn’t hanged.

2. for his ignominious burnout [2a] F1 driver Lewis Hamilton was fined A$500 but not convicted [2b]. His contrition was without conviction. I wouldn’t expect anything more from someone earning his living from F1.

3. Victorian Police’s Chief Commissioner Simon Overland, who last March was detected carrying bullets on to a commercial plane [3a] was labelled careless (by the Office of Police Integrity (!)) but otherwise exonerated [3b]. As per s.23(2A) & (2B) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 [3c] it’s a strict liability offence. Mr Overland should be imprisoned for 2 years.

4. the BMJ reported that increasing the daily intake of green leafy vegetables significantly reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes [4]. Maybe the reduced risk’s due to less junk food rather than a direct positive effect of the vegetables.

5. Get-It-Done Guy discussed ‘How to Make Hard Decisions’ [5]. Scenario Decision Making sounds a good method.

6. following my two posts on medical myths [6a, 6b], House Call Doctor wrote of three more [6c]. The more, the better.

7. Sotheby’s announced that next 23 September it’ll auction baskets of heirloom vegetables for US$1,000 each [7a]. It’s for two fine cause, though [7b].

8. Artist as Family [8a] did a marvellous interview about the Food Forest, on 702 ABC Sydney [8b]. Fantastic, AaF.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

The illusory thin blue line

‘The thin red line’ refers to the British Army’s red-coated soldiers during the Crimean War’s Battle of Balaclava in 1854 [1]. The derived term ‘the thin blue line’ refers to police [2]. As I’ve written, due to my Save Albert Park experiences I’ve no respect for Victoria Police force members [3]. An item in last Friday’s Age validated my view [4]. It says that in Victoria in 2008/9, over 50% of all police caught speeding in police vehicles without justification were cautioned but not fined. The equivalent figure for non police is but 2%. Police said the discrepancy was likely due to police better understanding the law that allows the option of a warning if a driver has a 2-year-plus clean driving record and was less than 10 km/h over the speed limit. Deputy commissioner Lay encouraged all Victorians given a speeding fine to investigate if they’re eligible for a warning instead. No, Mr Lay. No investigation’s needed. It’s up to the police to tell speeders if they qualify for a warning rather than a fine. Police who fine speeders who qualify for a warning, are at least morally deficient, and at worst acting illegally. But what do you expect from a police force whose chief commissioner was caught illegally carrying bullets onto a plane, yet received no penalty let alone the compulsory one applying to that offence [5]. Thin blue line indeed. No wonder law abiding citizens like me have no faith in the police. For they give us no reason to have any.

The iPod, the terrorist and the police chief

Sweetheart Vivienne recently became an iPhone owner. And I in turn inherited her iPod Touch. Naturally I’ve been downloading Apps – free ones, of course, because I’m a parsimonious old guy. One of my favourites so far is AppBox Lite [1] which contains many utilities. One utility calculates the number of days between two dates. Which is how I know 103 days have elapsed since 19 January when Hamas terrorist and arms smuggler Mahmoud Abdel Raouf Al-Mabhouh met a timely death in his Dubai hotel room [2]. And 45 days have elapsed since 18 March when Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Simon Overland was detected carrying live bullets on a Qantas domestic flight [3]. Both these events have vanished from the media. Like sunk stones. Without trace. Because, self evidently, in each case there have been no new developments. In relation to Al-Mabhouh all investigations by Dubai’s police, Scotland Yard, the Australian Federal Police and Interpol have seemingly come to nought. What welcome news. Whoever killed him did the civilised world a favour. In the Overland case, the metaphorical sunk stone is unwelcome because it demonstrates the Rule of Law doesn’t apply in Australia, i.e. the law doesn’t apply equally to each citizen. I’ve been waiting for a wag to put some bullets in a pocket and walk through airport security to see what happens. But so far no takers. I think, now, both stories are gone forever. Ho hum.

The Police Chief's bullets and the Rule of Law

The Rule of Law [1, 2, 3]. As I have no legal qualification I’m no expert on its ins and outs. But I take it to mean, in essence, that the law applies equally to everyone. That is, no-one’s above the law. Thus it’s a safeguard against the arbitrary exercise of power. And so to Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Simon Overland (pictured). As per this Age story [4], last Thursday he was detected carrying three live bullets on a Qantas domestic flight. Carrying dangerous goods on an aircraft without permission is a breach of s.23 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988. It can result in a maximum 7-year jail term if the breach was intended, or a 2-year jail term if unintended. Mr Overland said his carrying bullets on the flight was a mistake and a genuine oversight. A spokeswoman for Victorian Police Minister Cameron said he was satisfied with the police chief’s explanation. A statement by the federal Office of Transport Security said Mr Overland would be reprimanded over the incident. Not nearly good enough, methinks. The law is the law – for everyone, including a police chief. Both the Age article and one in the Australian [5] quote others who agree. If you or I committed the same offence, we’d get more than a reprimand. No doubt. I eagerly await further developments in this case. Wikipedia calls the Rule of Law a ‘foundation of a civilised society’. We’re about to find out how civilised our society is. Stay tuned.