The price of fagging

Like it not, I will use the US currency for the price of a packet of 20 fags from around the world.

US, $8 to $12

UK, $15 to $18

France, $12 to $14

Japan, $4 to $6

Indonesia $2 to $4 

Portugal $6 to $7

Australia, $28 to $35

As you can note, cigarettes are very expensive in Australia and over 70% of the cost is government taxes, that increase often and has acted as a disincentive to smoking, a good thing. Australia's rate of smoking is around 10% of the adult population is one of the lowest in the world. 

That is until the illegally imported cigarettes arrived that sell for around US$9, which is close to what the rest of the world pays.

That came the stand over tactics, 'buy our illegal cigarette or you business will be firebombed', and mayhem arrived, with many many outlets firebombed, with flats often in the same building.

The sale of vapes has been banned unless by doctor's prescription, yet vapes are readily available in the cigarette shops that sell illegal cigarettes.

It is a protection racket, which has now extended to nail salons, dance club venues, gyms, and new car businesses, one close to the dealership where I bought my car.

Let me draw a parallel. Extortion at cigarette shops that sold illegal cigarettes and vapes was ignored by governments, just as cops ignored manic ebike and electric scooter riders speeding along footpaths. Eventually authorities were forced into action, but had they clamped down on all before they became so big, Australia would be a better and more law abiding place.

The illegal cigarettes come in by container load from China and the Middle East, the latter via Singapore, I believe. I've seen and in a minor manner used AI. Surely can't technology detect the illegal cigarettes? 

At best I suggest there has been a lack of political will, at worst, some very powerful people, and I don't mean gangs, have a vested interest.

This is mayhem that has never been seen before in my lifetime. Changing your vote on polling day will make no difference. A chilling statistic is in Victoria, nearly all Melbourne based, between mid year 2024 and mid year 2026, there has been 300 fire bombings, a shocking statistic.                                                                             

The cults within

I learnt this evening from a friend who I dined with that Pancake Parlour is a Scientology business, its founders all being of the faith.

I already knew that the happy clappers, the born agains, the Hillsong Church, is behind the coffee shop chain, Gloria Jean. Who would drink their crap coffee anyway? 

The Plymouth Brethrens is no more than oppressive cult, dressed up as religion.  

Yet, our government judges them as proper religions, as they receive tax exemptions etc. 

Will such benefits be handed out to Sovereign Citizens?  It is another cult, made up of people who don't believe in the organisation of modern society, and don't recognise the laws of Australia, nor its governments. It is odd that the word sovereign is used, since they clearly don't swear allegiance to our king.

The organisation's views are extreme, with a couple of police officers being killed a few years ago by a 'sovereign citizen', and now close to home, two more cops have sadly been allegedly killed by a 'sovereign', the murderer as I write, not yet being caught.  

In both cases, the police were doing their duties. It is just too awful. Ingrid, note, one of the police killed was Belgian born. Cops are not perfect, as older and more recent media shows. But generally they do a very difficult job, mostly quite well.  

It seems that for police to safely deal with these sovereign state nutters, is they need to go in with all guns blazing, in a metaphorical sense, or maybe not metaphorical.

My life experience has taught me to have little respect for 'organised' religion, but they are now mild compared to those I've mentioned above. Should I connect the cult religions to those sovereign state types? For sure I should. They are all fucking nutters. 

Just focus on building a better society. 

Later edit: Hels has written some detail and background about the Sovereign Citizen movement.

Just the one, too many

One should not be so cruel but sometimes people deserve a dose of cruelty, such as Sydney celebrity socialite Vanessa Jacobs Fennell.

It us alleged she had a few too many drinkies, and was doing blockies in Bellevue Hill, one of Sydney's prestigious eastern suburbs, in her black Range Rover, sporting at least two shredded tyres. 

She side swiped four cars, one seriously, parked outside The Grumpy Baker. And wow, it was added to the story that one of the damaged cars was a Tesla. I can see the price of used Teslas plummeting, regardless of this incident.

She was breathalysed, with a positive reading but was refusing to go to the police station. She was arrested and then tried go the biffo with the police, so she was also charged assaulting a police officer. Into the slammer she went, but was bailed later that night.

I expect when hit by the cold harsh light of the day the following morning, what she will be most upset about the news reports is her unflattering photo in the media. Photo by Rhett Wyman

Happy NYE for some

Year after year, our New Year's Day ABC 7am radio news tells us police are generally happy with the the NYE crowd behaviour. 

As the radio news goes on throughout the day, we hear of stabbings, murders, assaults, illegal fireworks, fire bombings, arrest numbers, people injured by illegal fireworks, grass fires started by illegal fireworks, youth arrested for carrying illegal weapons, and one year when African heritage youth maraudered through the city with the intent to scare, if nothing worse. Where is the figure of how many women were raped on NYE?

But no matter, as the media department of our police force paint it all white, generally most were well behaved. Generally! 

Visiting a crime scene

Apparently some people nick meat from supermarkets. They must be quite skilled if they can conceal a leg of lamb. There is so much security at supermarkets, digital and a physical guard, I don't know how they do it. 

The Melbourne suburb of St Albans has an unofficial weekend market, where you can buy some very nice cuts of meat at cheap prices, clearly stolen meat. I read a newspaper article about the market and St Albans itself, once a train terminus before the line was extended. It sounded like an interesting suburb and I had no knowledge of the area. I must visit, so I did.

It wasn't a market day but there was not any shortage of places to eat all sorts of foods from around the world. I think I had coffee and a meat pie.

My Hair Dresser friend was teaching in St Albans and when I caught the train back to town, she walked past my carriage at Melbourne Spencer Street, clearly having just left the same train to catch a route 12 tram home. I was going on to Melbourne Flinders Street. 

Anyway, I rather liked St Albans. Here are a few photos taken in public spaces near the station. 

The kiddies are upset and behaving badly

There is some kind of arms exhibition in Melbourne this week. Ok, I looked here. We were not told of this in advance, though the planning would have begun at least two years ago, which is the timeline of booking the Exhibition Centre. Weapons of war, including tanks, were brought in with the cover of darkness.

The kiddies against war and the killings were somewhat upset and protested as the event opened yesterday. Hey, even old gay men can be against war and killings. I thoroughly approve of their protests, trying to block entrances for attendees, making lots of noise, moving around the large venue, splitting up into groups and reassembling. Screaming the words 'child killers' at visitors to the exhibition is fine with me. That's what weapons do.

Things became tense between the protestors and the police. Tram routes were shut down, a major road or two was closed down as the crowd of protestors grew. The kiddies got a bit antsy as the police pushed them back and began throwing things. Among the rotten tomatoes, some quite more heavy things were thrown. That is bad form, kiddies. The cops are doing their job as ordered. 

The police responded with force. Tear gas, rubber bullets and what I had to Google, flashbangs.  What on earth are they? It is a classic case of naming something quite serious into something sounding more mild. You may have heard of them as stun grenades, with a big flash of light that upsets your vision and a loud bang that upsets the fluid in your ears and, consequently your hearing and balance. The effect is temporary in theory. I wonder. But the protestors went well beyond the pale too.

I am sure our very respected Bushmasters, of which we have sent many to Ukraine, were featured. They are fighting off Putin's invasion. While I hate war and killings, countries need weapons to defend themselves. But if there were fewer arms and less war technology, might we not be a bit better off? I dunno. I think a phrase has already been invented, the arms race. 

Protests will continue tomorrow and probably the next day.

I may be in a film

Daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago.

Back in the USA, back in the bad old days.

Sorry about the photos. They could have been a lot better. 

There was a warning that if you were near these cars, you could be included in a film. I saw the camera swing directly in my direction and some excitement on the set. Ah, no, that is the back of the camera, not the front. Their loss. 

Is the law an ass?

Maybe it was just as well as yesterday's post was lost as things have changed.

Someone has been taken into custody related to the missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, a 22 year old male. He is the son of a former Australian Rules football player. The judge slapped a suppression order on naming him as he is in danger of self harm. 

Later Edit: The suppression order was lifted the next day and the suspect above has now been named. The alleged murderer was named on International Women's Day. It shows just how far we still have to go with safety for alone women in public spaces. Reassure yourselves, at least in Australia, that such crimes are extremely rare and so make the news for days and days.

I doubt anyone would doubt that the New South Wales policeman is not in danger of self harm. The gay man accused of murdering two men, who cosied up to celebrities, stalked the  minor celebrity man of his desire, one Jessie Baird and killed him with a police pistol as is alleged, and Jessie's partner, the Australian Rules Football umpire Luke Davies. It is such a sad case, and if he is found guilty, I would judge it was a crime of passion by a mentally unstable man. It is puzzling how this wasn't picked at some time during his police service. Could it be that employment diversity went a bit too far? Or are the NSW police force so desperate to increase and retain police force numbers? 

Beaumont Lamarre-Condon seems as mad as a meat axe, yet he has been well and truly named. Photo from the Star Observer.

Climate change protestors parked a hire van across three of four lanes, leaving only one lane open on a major bridge linking the western suburbs to the City over the Yarra River. They were eventually moved by police, charged and the next day two were sentenced to 21 days in gaol in spite of pleading not guilty. That's speedy justice, whether deserved or not. 

I am not saying this case would be any more speedily dealt with in Australia, but how about what is happened with the Australian soccer star Sam Kerr? She plays for Chelsea in England and from what I read and read into it she was in a taxi, threw up, refused to pay the cleaning charge for the cab, police were called and now it is unclear what she called him. It could have been 'stupid white cop', rather than 'stupid white bastard'.

Nevertheless, neither phrase is nice and not decent public behaviour, and she has lost a lot of respect. But get this. It has taken one year after the incident for her to be charged and it will be another year before the case goes to trial! 

I am sure members of  the English police force get called much worse to their faces. I am not sure why she was charged. Famous Aussie football star married dyke with darkish skin getting a bit lippy? Take her down a peg or two.

Whatever, Sam has disappointed us greatly.  

Lost post

I hit one key and my whole post disappeared, leaving me only with an aitch. Strangely the labels for the post remain. Ah well, plenty of stuffs for you to see elsewhere on the net.

Maybe I will put something up later that is already baked. 

h 

Good news story, kind of

This was a major headline media story because it is a very unusual thing to happen.

Benjamin Phikhohpoom (by his name I guess he is of Thai heritage) was abducted in a well to do area while walking home from a very good school in the local area of Caulfield in the greater area of Glen Eira. This is dominantly a Jewish area. Is that relevant? Maybe. But I can't see Benjamin as being a target by hatred of Jews.

Media informs me that the fifteen year old lad was pulled into a car by three teenagers who demanded his phone and personal belongings. He was stabbed, thrown out of the car and dragged for 150 metres and then, run over. 

He spent a long time in a coma but eventually recovered but not quite to the full extent. The television news subtitled his speech last night. But I could understand him easily. 

He is back at school, albeit part time. 

Photo from the Herald Sun.

What a marvellous country Australia is, clean, green, neat and safe.

From the English Daily Mail.

The three teenagers who allegedly carried out the attack were arrested and charged following the incident. 

All three have been granted bail and are set to face a children's court at a later date.

One of the alleged offenders, a 14-year-old boy, faces 70 charges relating to several armed robberies and multiple counts of theft. 

The reasonable part of my brain says if convicted, the perpetrators should serve a gaol sentence, understand the gravity of what they did and undergo rehabilitation before being released back into society.

The emotional part of my brain says why attack an innocent kid on his way home from school? Lock the fuckers up and throw away key for these wasters of society.

It will be interesting to see what the courts decide and you can bet the sentences will be mild.  

The Tasty Raid

Tasty was a brilliant nightclub. Fortunately we were not there on this night. The raid was an utter disgrace as under the evil conservative nasty Premier Jeff Kennett, the police thought they had carte blanche to do what they wanted, and they did. It cost the government a lot of money in compensation, yes that means us, the taxpayer. 

Someone I worked with back then received AU$11,000, quite a lot of money 39 years ago.

A couple of weeks later after the raid,there was a role reversal as a pair of female cops asked me for directions, which I was easily able to give them. They thanked me and I replied, 'I can be nice in spite of Tasty'. One rolled her eyes and muttered something I didn't hear. It was one of those rare times that I knew what to say and didn't regret saying nothing later.

This was published on FB by Monty BB.

Today, the 7th of August 2023 marks the 29th Anniversary of the Tasty Nightclub Raid.

On the 7th August 1994, Victoria Police conducted a raid under the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 on the Tasty Night Club, a predominantly LGBTI venue held at the Commerce Club, Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

Four hundred and sixty three (463) patrons and staff attending, were strip searched for drugs. The raid attracted a large degree of media and community interest and criticism and sparked public debate of the legality and reasonableness of such a search.

Allegations of discrimination by police against LGBTI persons were made, both in terms of the targeting of this Night Club for a raid and the overall conduct of the raid itself.

The Deputy Ombudsman (Police Complaints) conducted an investigation which focused on the question of whether the raid could be viewed as discriminatory or indicative of prejudice against the LGBTI community; whether there were reasonable grounds and adequate evidence to justify a raid strategy; whether planning of the raid was appropriate; whether the strip search of individual persons was lawful; whether there were reasonable grounds for the search of all 463 persons; the conduct of the strip searches and a number of allegations raised by individual complainants regarding the attitude, conduct and demeanour of members in the course of the raid.

During the investigation, 20 police members were interviewed and 55 civilians were questioned or supplied statements.

A summary of the findings of the investigation indicated;

(a) The raid was discriminatory but was not, insofar as can be ascertained, based on prejudice against the LGBTI community. However, the appropriateness of adopting this strategy in the circumstances is seriously questioned.

(b) The contents of the affidavit on which the warrant is based are inaccurate and appear to be embellished. The affidavit should have been subjected to more rigorous appraisal by senior officers.

(c) There were deficiencies in the planning for the operation including the estimate of crowd numbers and the numbers of police involved, the estimate of female attendance and the lack of adequate numbers of policewomen and the supervision of and guidance given to the planning and execution of the raid. Planning did not include provision for strip searching of all patrons. This was a decision made by a senior officer after entry to the Club.

(d) Legal advice has been received, that generally speaking, Section 81 of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act allows for the strip search of individuals and to that extent the strip searches were not unlawful. However, it is considered to be totally unreasonable to strip search 463 individuals. It is clear that the operational decision to do so was not practical. The conduct of the searches, in particular, the lack of privacy afforded to the individual, contravened Police Operating Procedures. A large number of innocent people were caused distress and inconvenience.

(e) The investigation of complaints against individual members in regard to demeanour, abusive language, rough handling and other matters raised by complainants has been inconclusive. There were no allegations of serious abuse against police. There is no doubt, however, from complainants accounts that patrons felt threatened and intimidated and that some members acted in a discourteous and unprofessional manner.

The incident led to a successful class action law-suit against Victoria Police with damages running into the millions awarded to patrons. This sum would have been considerably higher had all affected parties come forward—a large number of patrons, fearful of the repercussions of "outing" themselves in a public forum or reluctant to relive the traumatic experience of the raid, did not participate.

The class action law-suit was conducted by Gary Singer, who later became the Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne.

Ms. Sally Gordon was the test case complainant, which in turn allowed the class action to take place.

Thank you Sally for being such a brave and wonderful woman; for having the courage to take on such a monumental task and for representing your community with resolve. You have left an indelible mark on the history of the LGBTI community.

An historical moment in Melbourne's LGBTI history.

I Will Never Forget

We Will Never Forget.

Always Remembered.

A shocking assault

This happened maybe five kilometres away from The Highrise and I find it just so distressing as a innocent worker was on his way home and brutally attacked resulting in life threatening injuries.

I feel uncomfortable doing this but look at the names of the offenders! This happened in one of our richest and probably safest inner suburbs of Melbourne. Houston, we have a problem. 

If the allegations are true, ten years in the slammer each. 

Link https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/dj-repeatedly-kicked-in-the-head-in-unprovoked-nye-attack-court-told-20230102-p5c9tc.html  

Girlfriend tried to shield unconscious DJ as he was brutally attacked in Toorak, court told

ByMarta Pascual Juanola

Updated January 2, 2023 — 6.19pm

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A Melbourne DJ was repeatedly kicked in the head by four attackers as he lay unconscious on the street during an unprovoked assault in Toorak in the early hours of New Year’s Day, a court has heard.

Police say Darrien Fisher’s girlfriend tried to intervene by using her body to shield him from the attack and was punched in the head herself before the group ran from the scene.

Melbourne DJ Darrien Fisher is fighting for his life after being brutally attacked in Toorak on New Year’s Day. CREDIT:FACEBOOK

Fisher, who performs as DJ Dazz, suffered life-threatening injuries and had emergency surgery at The Alfred hospital on Sunday morning.

The 23-year-old is in an induced coma and remains in the ICU in a critical but stable condition, police prosecutors said.

Fisher’s alleged attackers – 19-year-old Michael Nous, 19-year-old Ayoub Abdulrahman, 20-year-old Mohamed Buram and 23-year-old Cleveland Momia – appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, charged with affray, assault and recklessly causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence.

The court heard Fisher was walking back to his car after finishing DJing at a Sounds of Africa event at Jacksons Hotel on Jackson Street at 3am on Sunday when he found a group of men leaning against the bonnet of his white Jeep.

Police allege the group became irate after Fisher asked them to move away from his car, hurling verbal abuse at the 23-year-old before striking him repeatedly in the head, causing him to lose consciousness and collapse on the pavement.

The attack, which was captured by security cameras at a nearby Woolworths supermarket, continued as Fisher lay unconscious on the ground, with all four men kicking him in the head, groin and back, police said.

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Fisher’s partner, Sharni Conroy-Green, attempted to use her body as a shield to protect Fisher and was struck in the head by the men.

According to police, Momia then said, “Boys, we need to dip, we need to get out”, before the group ran away from the scene, leaving Fisher unconscious and covered in blood on the pavement.

The men, who were filmed running east along Jackson Street by a witness, were arrested nearby.

Abdulrahman, Momia and Nous, all from Dandenong, made separate applications for bail.

Momia, who appeared without a lawyer and requested bail against legal advice, said he was “a bit intoxicated” during the attack and only remembered “glimpses, bits and pieces” of the night.

The court heard Momia had told the police he could not remember “the specifics of the actual offence” or “what kicked everything off” but claimed Fisher had thrown the first punch.

Buram appeared in court later in the day and did not apply for bail.

Magistrate Robert Stary described the violence as a “serious attack on a defenceless person” and rejected the trio’s applications for bail.

“In my view, it’s a serious allegation of recklessly causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence and, in my view, there are no exceptional circumstances,” he told the court.

The group will return to court in March.

Posters of the party shared online by Jacksons Hotel show the event was marketed as a New Year’s Eve gala with performances from six DJs, as well as African drumming and free shots of alcohol for women. Footage of the event shared on social media shows a dance floor packed with revellers.

A friend of Fisher’s from the reggae music scene, who did not want to be named, described the 23-year-old as a “lovely” man who is always happy and loves his job.

“Dazz is a very good guy, almost every person who knows him will tell you,” he said. “He is very passionate on his career DJing. That’s what he loves most.”

He said he learnt about the attack on Sunday morning after friends began calling him asking about what had happened.

“I had to call some people I knew, and I found out that he was beaten after him finishing DJing, and he was going back home,” he said. “Very sad.”

Cop Killers

As Caro mentioned at the end of a blog post, Australia is mourning over the death of two police officers in Queensland, as reported shot down in a trap when investigating a missing person's case. The missing person was one of the assailants who along with brother and the wife of one of them deliberately shot at police to kill them, and two of the four who were attending were killed. A fire was lit in long grass to unsuccessfully flush out one of the surviving police and the smoke attracted a neighbour to the scene who was also fatally shot. The perpetrators of the terrible crime were killed in a specialised police force shoot out after a six hour siege. Six people died. 

It is just so awful and barely comprehendible. 

One of the murderers, the missing person, was not so long ago a school principal, his wife who also shot at police a school teacher and I don't know about his brother who perhaps owned the house. 

Why is the question. They were right wing conspiracy theorists, freedom fighters, anti vaxxers, anti Covid lock down and busy in right wing internet sites. You get the picture but it doesn't explain why they murdered two police officers innocently going about their job, along with a concerned neighbour. We really need to know why.

In some countries the killing of police does not make headlines but I am pleased that our headlines did and the horror people feel and the concern Australia wide. 

Vale Rachel McCrow, Matthew Arnold and Alan Dare.