Investigate, August 2006 by Investigate Magazine

A MAJOR REPORT: those other party pills we’re popping

INVESTIGATE

August 2006:

KAHUI TWINS CASE: HOW IT HAPPENED

Kahui killings

Peter Davis

Depression

MURDER IN THE BADLANDS

Cyndi Lauper

“If we still had old-fashioned maps, they’d shade out large chunks of South Auckland with the words: ‘Here be Dragons’...”

Issue 67

BABIES BEATEN SENSELESS; ROCKS ON THE MOTORWAY: HAS CRADLE TO THE GRAVE WELFARE BECOME A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY? $7.95 August 2006

Mystery Deepens Fresh information emerges on ‘the Peter Davis incident’

Lawyer Blasts Family Court

“If someone attacks us is it not healthier simply to punch them?”

Inside Guantanamo

The exclusive interview that cost a US commander dearly

Volume 6, Issue 67, August 2006

FEATURES MURDER IN THE BADLANDS

The murder of three month old babies Cru and Chris Kahui not only stunned a nation – together with the conviction of a then-14-year-old for manslaughter they’re redefining the debate about Maori violence and a lenient welfare system. IAN WISHART has the details

THE PETER DAVIS MYSTERY DEEPENS

THE PASSIONATE LAWYER

28 32

Last month we broke the story that Prime Minister Helen Clark’s husband may have been involved in some kind of major incident overseas. Now we’re getting closer, not just with new information pouring in but also with the Beehive battening down the hatches and refusing to give straight answers to the media. IAN WISHART with ongoing coverage of this breaking story

He’s one of New Zealand’s more outspoken lawyers. So outspoken in fact that a High Court judge recently threatened to throw him in jail for contempt. Now EVGENY ORLOV is dusting off the cudgels in a punchy and provocative analysis of what’s wrong with our Family Court system

THE DEPRESSION INDUSTRY

WORLDBRIEF: INSIDE GITMO

The depression industry is big business. So big in fact that it turns out most of the doctors carrying out ‘independent’ scientific studies turn out to be in the pockets of Big Pharmaceuticals. LIDIA WASOWICZ begins a major two part investigation of the business behind psychiatry, and finds some very disturbing information

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You’re the commander of the world’s most notorious prison camp, and a bunch of inmates have just killed themselves on your watch. Do you spill your heart to a journalist and admit things are “out of control”? Apparently so, as MICHAEL GORDON discovered in this exclusive report

Cover: GETTY

EDITORIAL AND OPINION Volume 6, issue 67, ISSN 1175-1290

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Contributing Writers: Keith Newman, Chris Forster, Peter Hensley, Dan Olmsted, Chris Carter, Mark Steyn, Chris Philpott, Michael Morrissey, Miranda Devine, Richard Prosser, Claire Morrow, Laura Wilson, and the worldwide resources of Knight Ridder Tribune, UPI and Newscom Art Direction Design & Layout

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FOCAL POINT VOX-POPULI SIMPLY DEVINE LAURA’S WORLD STRAIGHT TALK EYES RIGHT SOAPBOX LINE 1 TOUGH QUESTIONS

Editorial The vocal majority Miranda Devine on parenting Laura Wilson on the Kahuis Mark Steyn on the UN Richard Prosser dreams of genies Sue Arnold on whaling Chris Carter’s guide to Aotearoa Sensing murder

Heidi Wishart Bozidar Jokanovic

Tel: +64 9 373 3676 Fax: +64 9 373 3667 Investigate Magazine PO Box 302188, North Harbour North Shore 0751, NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIAN EDITION Editor James Morrow Customer Services Debbie Marcroft, Sandra Flannery Tel: +61 2 9389 7608 Tel: +61 2 9369 1091 Tel/Fax: 1-800 123 983 Investigate Magazine PO Box 602, Bondi Junction Sydney, NSW 1355, AUSTRALIA SUBSCRIPTIONS Online: www.investigatemagazine.com By Phone: Australia 1-800 123 983 New Zealand 09 373 3676 By Post: To the respective PO Boxes Current Special Prices: Save 25% NZ Edition: $72 Australian Edition: A$72 EMAIL editorial@investigatemagazine.com ian@investigatemagazine.com jmorrow@investigatemagazine.com jkaye@investigatemagazine.com sales@investigatemagazine.com debbie@investigatemagazine.com All content in this magazine is copyright, and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The opinions of advertisers or contributors are not necessarily those of the magazine, and no liability is accepted. We take no responsibility for unsolicited material sent to us. Please enclose a stamped, SAE envelope. Inquiries in the first instance should be made via email or fax.

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FOCAL POINT

EDITORIAL Their own worst enemies

athers, it seems, can sometimes be their own worst enemies. The recent spat over Family Court proceedings is a case in point. It is one thing to protest about bias in the Family Court, it is another to hold up Nazi swastikas outside the homes of judges and lawyers. Somewhere in there the moral high ground is lost and all they succeed in doing is hardening the attitudes of those they’re complaining about. Don’t get me wrong – Investigate believes there are some major injustices in the Family Court system and that it has been a stomping ground for the sisterhood and the politically-correct over the years. Generally, Investigate is supportive of reforms of an often Mickey Mouse system. But if I had “Fathers will not win reform to deal with some of the verbal and written abuse that of the Family Court system by some fathers are generating, acting stupid. They need to I’d have strong reservations giving them custody think smarter” about of a budgie, let alone kids. “Kill Helen Clark!” was the subject of one fathers’ group email received at Investigate recently, while others have referred to the PM or female judges as “the bitch”, “the whore” or a whole range of even more vicious epithets. It is easy to understand the pain of separation from children. It is easy to understand the frustration of navigating a system that appears to bend over backwards for mothers. It is true that the Family Court is prepared to accept at face value nebulous assertions and accusations without hard evidence, so it becomes easy for women to lie like flatfish in order to get custody. But having seen the way some men conduct themselves, I still reckon many of them are train wrecks who aren’t ready to tidy their act up yet. They communicate in monosyllabic grunts, they blow their stack at the slightest provocation and they wonder why the judge ticks the box marked “unstable – watch this one”. Fathers who wish to win in court need to be aware of two things. Firstly, be honest. If you’ve given genuine reason for the other party to feel afraid, own up to it and deal with it. You will waste enormous amounts of money and mental energy trying to re-create truth in your name, if in fact you are a lying thieving violent scumbag. Secondly, assuming your case has merit and integ-

, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

rity, start using the law a bit more strategically. The Bill of Rights guarantees you natural justice, even from the Family Court and CYF. If you genuinely didn’t get a fair hearing, if someone really did stitch you up through the process (as opposed to just having better evidence than you), then don’t be afraid to seek a High Court judicial review of the process. If there’s one thing I learned in the Winebox case, it is that leading corporates are not afraid to tie up government agencies in knots by using the law against them. I have seen government agencies come on heavy, and then get overturned in the High Court because they overstepped their powers. Fathers will not win reform of the Family Court system by acting stupid. They need to think smarter. Of course, in an ideal world, people would choose who they jumped into bed with more carefully so that in the case of a child eventuating they’re not spending the next 18 years linked to someone they loathe. In an ideal world, people going through relationship dark patches would work through them instead of leaping into the arms of someone else, causing marital breakdown and child carnage. In an ideal world, parents would realize that kids are boisterous and noisy and that cooping them up in a 300 m2 back yard is just as unnatural as leaving a dog locked in a cupboard all day. Pumping kids full of drugs to shut them up is not the answer. In an ideal world schools would realize that removing the threat of corporal punishment was possibly the stupidest piece of social engineering they ever engaged in, and in an ideal world parents who end up in court would realize that losing their rag is a bad look. But then, we don’t live in an ideal world.

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VOX POPULI

COMMUNIQUES A MOTHER WRITES

I read with interest Richard Prosser’s article on ‘Boys To Men’, June 2006. The article mentioned a protective Dad who ‘bullied the bully’ as TVNZ’s Sunday programme put it. Prosser appeared to be on the side of the dad, as many New Zealanders have appeared to be also. I am the wife of Daryl Falcon, and the support that we received from all over NZ was phenomenal. We expected to have a backlash and have a lot of New Zealanders hating us, but we were surprised and overwhelmed by the support that Kiwis showed. Our daughter is still going to the same school, the bullying appears to have finished, although continues to be done to the other children by the child who bullied our daughter. Richard Prosser is right, this judicial system portrayed my husband as the villain, but the judge was caught in a ‘catch 22’ situation. She was damned if she didn’t let him off with just a warning, and she was damned also for giving him the conviction. I feel our schools are letting our children down, a lot of children are too scared to come forward and tell someone that they are being bullied. Alas, some children feel that they have nowhere else to go, and use other options so that the pain of being bullied will go away forever. Thankfully, our daughter had the strength to tell her parents what was going on, and unfortunately her dad dealt with the bully for her, and got a criminal conviction in the process. I very much agreed with everything that Prosser had in his article, and it was nice to see something positive being written in the media rather than negative with what happened to Daryl. Our daughter knows that her dad will stick up for her, even if it means he got into a lot of trouble in the process... We need to protect our children, and if we ever have a boy, he will be taught the old fashioned way, to stand up for what he believes in, and look after his family. Daryl and I have set up a support group, for other parents who feel that they are in the same situation, and getting nowhere with the school. We are called Parents Against Bullying and if there are other parents out there who wanted someone to talk to, we would love to hear from them. We had never purchased your magazine before now,

, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

but have read many interesting articles in it, so most certainly will be doing so in the future. Corinna and Daryl Falcon 81 Marshland Road Shirley Christchurch 03 942 7008

SPELL TESTOSTERONE

What a cracker article in the Investigate (Boys to Men). Raised my testosterone level it did! Reminds me of a rugby match in this country...the guy that throws the punch gets sent off. And the MOUTH gets away with it again. Awareness of family violence is being preached in the Ministry of Social Development circles just now. I hear a lot about it due to family members working in the establishment. “The Male is the main cause of family violence...” Boy, that is so unfair. I've said many times to my crew that we need two items only to stop the fracas....one is a set of handcuffs but more importantly, a large strip of duct tape. I live in Waikouaiti and have a house in Dunedin where I live during the Winter months. Earlier when I was looking for boarders to fill a couple of the rooms, I unwisely chose women. I didn’t realise how much times had changed. They were ill-mannered, couldn’t hold their drink and were unreliable with board payments. What’s more, in the groups they were involved with socially they led the boys around by their noses... I’m not used to that either. Richard, you are so right. It’s a bigger mess than people realise. Pat Deady, Otago

TWO PATIENTS

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics in New Zealand with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement. The first patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week. The second sees his family doctor after waiting a week for an appointment, then waits eighteen weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn’t reviewed for

another month and finally has his surgery scheduled for a year from now. Why such a different treatment for these two patients? Actually, very simple... The first patient is a Golden Retriever. The second patient is a Senior Citizen. Joop Van der Lijn, via email

BROADBAND ISSUES

I have just read your article in Investigate – thank you for explaining a lot. I still have a query that you may be able to answer. When Xtra Jetstream introduced their new faster plans a couple of months ago I switched to Xtra Explorer to get 3.5mbps download, an increase from the 2mbps that I was getting under my old plan. However the download speed test at nzdsl.co speedtest showed that I was still getting only 1.9 mbps download and an upload of 88 kbps. We live just over 4 kilometres from our Rangiora exchange and the Telecom contractor who came out tested the line and told me that the line was only capable of 2 mbps maximum and that it would not matter if Telecom had 100 mbps plans we would never get it faster. He told me to revert to the Xtra Go plan restricted to 2 mbps down/128 kbps up and save $10 per month. Today’s speed test showed 1.92 mbps down and 88 kbps up. I am happy with the data allowance on this plan that is not the issue. My question – Is it true that no matter what speed you enable at the exchange does distance cut it back to less that 2mbps? And can we never expect to get faster speeds? Do any others offer plans that have more balance between down and upload speeds? John Rainey, Rangiora

For all the moments we’ve shared

Keith Newman responds:

The problem, as I suggested in the article is that Telecom literally has its foot on the broadband hose. The other problem is that in some places the hose can’t handle broadband anyway. The devices Telecom has between its Gigabit/sec nationwide backbone network and the exchanges where the DSLAMs are located act like a governor restricting the capacity that can be delivered. The greater the number of DSLAM units and active ports in those units the less bandwidth there is to share between customers in each area. Even the promise of 128kbit/sec download speeds is a myth. Typically it’s about 40kbit/sec after which each customer gathers available bandwidth from what may be available to that exchange at the time. If all your neighbours are on the internet at the same time, both download and upload speeds are restricted. In areas where the copper is older or decaying, line speeds may never get beyond 2Mbit/ sec. Telecom says it won’t install DSL where the line is incapable of 2Mbit/sec. With so much old copper around that is never likely to be replaced unfortunately broadband remains a big gamble.

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FLY ME

First let me say I haven’t listened to talkback since your departure, and admired your Christian stance while you were there. Have just read your article on Air NZ in Investigate and wished to share a little saga of my own on the airline on which we will never travel again.

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www.guthries.co.nz INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006,

We wished to use some Airpoints on a recent trip to Brisbane. I rang and the fare was $338.00 each for my wife and I. We elected to pay the taxes on credit card to retain some points and were informed the taxes were $209.00 each! When my card bill arrived another $50.00 was on the charge which when I rang to question was advised it is a service charge! So the fare totalled $597.00 each using Airpoints. Opposition airlines are offering fares for around the $440.00 mark. We were served a meat pie and cold pasta in a cardboard box for this price, which was laughable, by staff who couldn’t have cared less. Why would you have Airpoints? Never again! Name and address supplied, Auckland

DEFENCE OF THE REALM

A number of us have observed Bruce Ferguson’s migration from the Defence to Civil Defence “hats”. Perhaps his Navy jacket will prove as much an accessory to his civilian garb as it was to his RNZAF uniform? Civilian disasters should follow on quite naturally to a man who took the Defence helm at a time when Helen Clark was stripping the RNZAF of its military capabilities and technically skilled personnel. Who knows, he may well make a great contribution to Civil Defence if its civilian aspects were to provide a green-fields opportunity to a man relieved of the need to display military and constitutional nous. He certainly is well steeped in New Zealand politics and he may know how to operate the throttles in that arena. Without a doubt, helicopters will figure large in any prescription he writes. Hugh Webb, Hamilton

MUST WE BE BORN AGAIN?

Usually I am encouraged by your Christian column, but your latest one about being born again was a significant exception. I have enjoyed the well-informed and well-reasoned defences of the faith that you have previously published and I hope there will be more of those. Your understanding of the new birth, as expressed in your recent article, “Must we be Born Again?” (Investigate June 2006, Issue 66), exposes some very poor theology. It seems that you have allowed your Pentecostal “lightning-bolt experience” to cloud your judgement, rather than interpreting your experience in the light of Biblical truth. First, I agree with your conclusion that a person must be born again. This is clear from passages such as John 3. Furthermore, I agree wholeheartedly with the necessity of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. Romans 8:9 explicitly says, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” I would also agree that the Spirit comes on people in various ways – some dramatic, some (most?) not. Where I think you make some errors is in your definitions of the new birth and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Modern Pentecostalism, while blessed with amazing demonstrations of God’s power, often seems blind to historical and theological lessons. The catch-cry of the Great Awakening in the mid to late 1700s was, “you must be born again!” This emphasis is also seen in many other revivals and awakenings over the centuries. George Whitefield and Charles Spurgeon and a host of others all proclaimed the same message – the necessity of the new birth for

10, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

salvation. What these men meant by that, however, was not the obtaining of the Holy Spirit, but the infusion of spiritual life, which is a sovereign work of God. Paul made it clear that no one is righteous and no one seeks after God. Yet, in His grace, God gives life to some, causing them to believe the Gospel when they hear it and thereby saving them. The promise of God is that those who hear and believe will then be given the Holy Spirit. The point is that the new birth (in Scripture and history) is distinct from the baptism of the Holy Spirit – they are not the same and they should not be confused. What I am referring to is that you seem confused about what is called the ordo salutis, the divinely directed order by which God applies salvation to an individual. I recommend that you read John Murray’s book, “Redemption Accomplished and Applied,” to help clarify your thinking here (I can send you a copy if you wish). Briefly, Murray demonstrates that calling, regeneration (new birth), justification, adoption, sanctification and glorification are all distinct and necessarily sequential (see also, Romans 8:29-30). While I agree that historically, many theologians have underplayed the work of the Holy Spirit in New Covenant times, it would be foolish to discard the wisdom God gave them for the benefit of the church. Peter van den Brink, Southland WISHART RESPONDS:

I think the confusion arises more as a result of column space restrictions that don’t allow one to capture every nuance, rather than any fundamental disagreement. I agree with you that becoming a Christian is a journey, rather than a destination in itself, and that the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing process rather than a one-off event. My point was primarily however that choosing to follow Christ requires more than a water baptism, as Paul and the Apostles’ teachings make clear: having John’s baptism (water) and a belief in Christ was not enough to seal the deal in Paul’s eyes, without the laying on of hands and the baptism of the Spirit. If it were otherwise, the passages in the New Testament where Paul and the others felt it necessary to rectify this precise shortcoming would not have been included by God. Now you are correct that some baptisms, like mine, can be dramatic and others quiet – neither is more special than the other, it is merely the point where the journey begins. All of the above, however, describes optimum conditions. I’m absolutely convinced that a God of mercy would look favourably on people who for some reason had “not filled in the forms correctly”. Christianity is not about magic, it’s not a case of getting the words of a spell correct. But by the same token, a person who actively declines the baptism of the Holy Spirit by way of choice, rather than lack of opportunity, is making a statement that God ultimately has to decipher: is that person really wanting to follow Christ?

THE PANIC BUTTON

Gay MP Tim Barnett wants to eliminate 'homosexual panic' as a defence in sentencing for manslaughter. The large majority of NZ males find unwanted attentions from gays extremely distasteful. What is 'homophobia' to socialists, is in fact righteous indignation and horror to normal people. If someone called

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 11

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someone 'nigger' and they subsequently were hurt badly or died as a result of such 'racist' comment, I have no doubt a defence of provocation would be acceptable to Tim Barnett and his leftist friends. This legislation will be the thin end of the wedge, with the same reasoning being applied to other lesser incidents. Why don't we have a referendum on the issue Mr Barnett and see what the people think? Nicholas Keesing, auckland

PITY THEY DIDN’T ‘ENFORCE’ THE KAHUIS

Police Commander Mark Lammas says in recent comments that white collar workers, unlike blue collar workers, do not accept that Police are there to “enforce”. These comments could equally be interpreted as being that Police remain unwilling to be challenged as to the extent of their use and abuse of their powers and wish that everyone could be pushed around as easily as these archetypical “blue-collar” workers that he cites. Something that an increasing number of reports indicate is that Police in this country do not seem to accept that the public has the right to be treated with respect, and that there is a limit to the ability of Police to instruct the public in their actions. The recent example of the threat to arrest a person on “disorderly conduct” charges because he was protesting the dangerous passage of the Prime Minister’s motorcade is a case in point and is not an isolated incident. Instead of bemoaning the fact that “white-collar” people are prepared to stick up for their rights Lammas would better spend his time addressing the attitude of arrogance and ignorance of civil rights that is clearly prevalent among his force. Peter Tashkoff, Auckland

THE s59 DEBATE

Regarding the s59 repeal: If New Zealand law is changed, so that parents are not allowed to smack children, will a new law be introduced that children are not allowed to smack their parents? Trying to keep the argument logical. Annebeth Riles Broad Founder and Director No-Excuses Correctional Training Family Building Centres Dunedin www.family-building-centres.org www.no-excuses.co.nz

DROP US A LINE Letters to the editor can be posted to: PO Box 302188, North Harbour, North Shore 0751, or emailed to: editorial@investigatemagazine.com

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 13

SIMPLY DEVINE

MIRANDA DEVINE Parents to blame for dosed-up generation

he mystery of why doctors are increasingly prescribing psychiatric drugs for children was illuminated a little by three emails I received last month – from a Sydney psychiatrist, a teacher and a psychologist. Psychiatrist Dr Tanveer Ahmed wrote in response to my column in The Sydney Morning Herald, which questioned the 15,000 prescriptions of antidepressants such as Prozac for children under 10, with subsequent alarming side effects, as reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration. "A key point . . . is how much parents often want these drugs, particularly with ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]," he wrote. "The insecurity of psy“A fertility decline is surely chiatry as a profession is preferable to a legion of unwanted also related – giving a drug gives them ownership of a "nuisance" children drugged into problem that is more wide compliance. Get a pet instead” ranging." Ahmed said most referrals for psychiatric drugs, such as Ritalin for ADHD, come from teachers "no longer able to cope with unruly children". "This is understandable. Teachers have so much on their plates that they cannot focus all their energies on one child," he wrote. "The doctor, when discussing the problem child with desperate, pleading parents, would like to prescribe better resources in schools to deal with children struggling with learning disabilities, more money to help families on the verge of separation, greater help for victims of child abuse, and better support for those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. "Unfortunately, a doctor cannot prescribe such a remedy. But he can prescribe a drug. And children who use this particular drug often show considerable improvement. "The parents are, of course, much happier and the child often engages better with school and family. The side effects are not usually marked." Then there was the primary school teacher who wrote candidly about the intolerable burden falling on her profession due to the failure of parents to properly mould and discipline their children. "I find I have become a de facto parent, where more than 50 per cent of my class time workload is behaviour management and counsel-

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ling. This is attributable to a number of factors, including double-income parents, the influence of other socialisation agents and sheer lack of control and guidance from parents," she wrote. "In my role of de facto parent, I am also a 'single parent' in the context of the school: my students are my problem." Enlisting support from principals and executives is frowned upon. "The consequence is that behaviour management is not a shared enterprise throughout the school, like parenting is when there's a mum and a dad. If I need some outside help – which is often, as a number of my kids are medicated and still difficult – then it's regarded as my failure and that I'm 'surrendering the control of the problem'." And there was the former psychologist who gave up his job at a publicly funded clinic and left his profession after "a sharp dressing-down from my supervisor when I dared to [point out the truth to] a couple (young, overweight, thongs, strong odour of nicotine) complaining that the small boy they had brought to my office was 'hyperactive' and they couldn't cope any more". "I gently pointed out that the anklebiter in question, who was then running around my office stripping things off shelves he could reach, was exhibiting a fairly normal level of activity, but that the activities were a little inappropriate and I was concerned that neither [parent] had thought to tell the child to behave himself," he wrote. "I tried to explain the concept of 'hypoactivity' to them, emphasising that if dad got off the couch and ran around with the young fella both their lives would improve and, further, that they needed to teach their child appropriate ways to behave in different circumstances. "Needless to say, they left in a huff and made a complaint which led to my being informed that I wasn't to be rude to 'clients' and to take their problems seriously. "My defence, that I was treating their 'problem' seriously, and giving them the only useful way to deal with it, was treated as further evidence that I had 'elitist' attitudes and was not going to make it as a counsellor." These true tales from warriors at the front line of modern child raising make you despair for future generations. A fertility decline is surely preferable to a legion of unwanted "nuisance" children drugged into compliance. Get a pet instead.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 15

LAURA‘S WORLD

LAURA WILSON

A liberal perspective on the Kahui killings

upernanny Jo Frost uses a simple formula to correct errant behaviour in children; rewards for good deeds, punishments for bad ones. By and large it works, even in children whose naughtiness appears to stem from dysfunction rather than mere brattishness. Behind the formula is the philosophy that children want to feel valued, and receiving attention from parents is the primary source of feeling important. If children receive little in the way of loving attention for being good, or for simply being alive, and yet receive prompt attention such as reprimands, yelling or smacking for being naughty then it appears to the child that naughtiness is far more likely to achieve their primary goal of receiving attention, “It is alarming to me, and no than is goodness. This suggests that the doubt to Pita Sharples, that reason for today’s plethNew Zealander’s appetites still ora of undisciplined, overgreatly favour punitive over indulged brats has less to with weak parents who restorative justice” do can’t lay down the law, than with a generation of children starved of their parents’ time. And what of the children for whom being starved of a sense that they are important is the least of their struggles; the children who learn that life means enduring mum and dad’s nightly drunken parties, during which they will inescapably attract the sexual attention of mum’s uncle, who is but one of their abusers? The boy child knows that in the morning mum will beat him because again he has soiled himself out of terror. The girl child has learnt she is valueless except for her pubescent body which excites interests amongst dad’s friends. Unless something extraordinary intervenes in such children’s lives, as adults ‘he’ will most likely be violent and sadistic and ‘she’ promiscuous and abusive. In short, either one could grow up to be the murderer of the Kahui twins, Chris and Cru. For the hypothetical murderers, suddenly after a lifetime of no one being interested in who they are, everyone wants to talk to them. Why did they do it? Why have babies if you’re not going to love them? Are they monsters? The nation needs answers. Two groups form around widely divergent perspectives. One group has ‘had enough’, it’s headed by the likes of Rodney Hide

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and represents the majority New Zealand opinion. The other finds its voice in Pita Sharples, who also has had enough, but behind him stand the few; those who’ve been there, where the Kahuis have been, or who’ve been close enough to see. What separates these two representative men is an ocean of understanding. One believes in the much-loved Kiwi-ism, the level playing field, which infers everyone growing up in New Zealand has the same opportunities via education, health, welfare and human rights. The other has spent his life observing a different world in which an underclass lives a life few New Zealanders are aware of. Sharples is painfully aware this underclass is responsible for a high percentage of our country’s worst crimes. He is also aware that in spite of progress such as Treaty settlements, free job-training schemes and extra funding for low decile schools, this underclass is growing, and it is overwhelmingly Maori. Rodney Hide finds it fitting to use the title ‘scumbags’ in describing this class. He is in no doubt that mainstream, taxpaying New Zealanders have no place in their society for abused and neglected children who grow into abusive adults. They must be locked away, far from view, preferably for the term of their lives. This view is skin-deep, the property of an individual who sees life as permutations of himself; I can behave responsibly therefore anyone can. It is also the property of a wider movement whose mantra is “personal responsibility”, enabling them to condemn and constrain anyone not able to control their behaviour. It is alarming to me, and no doubt to Pita Sharples, that New Zealander’s appetites still greatly favour punitive over restorative justice. We do not want to understand how the monster became monstrous. How he/she too was once a beautiful, fragile child, malformed over the years into a creature of addictions and perversions for whom the ‘level playing field’ is as remote as Mars. We don’t want to believe that deep within the monster lies something beautiful, intrinsic to the human being, because then we might have a flicker of caring that would not sit well with the lock-em-up-and forget-em solution. This modicum of compassion is held in reserve only for children, in whom we perceive innocence and hope. The adult though, knows right from wrong and is aware of the crimes they commit. Yet between maladjusted child and criminal adult little has changed except the internalization of the external nightmare that surrounds one, into a per-

sonalized array of problems, addictions and ugliness. The innocent child becomes the culpable adult almost overnight. Rodney’s scumbags appear and we build prisons to make them disappear. Pita Sharples fights the war against darkness from a much closer range than Rodney Hide, and his pained expression conveys knowledge of just how much ground is lost by Maoridom with the Kahui twins’ deaths. By keeping to themselves, speaking only in Maori and resisting investigation, the Kahui family makes it a Maori issue, rather than a family one. Violence and infanticide become attached to the Maori race in the minds of New Zealanders, and again the dark clouds gather above their collective heads. Sharples knows there is no such thing as personal responsibility without personal ability. The emotionally disabled and dysfunctional are incapable of responsibility. They are the victim of urges and rages they did little to create, and are as powerless to control as is the alcoholic, or perhaps even the Tourette’s sufferer, unable to prevent obscene utterances. Each trapped addict needs to learn new pathways within the mind and emotions if they are to be freed from endless repetition.

Personal responsibility has its place, absolutely. Those who do not (or cannot) choose to change, must in some way be forced to change via incarceration. In my ideal, fantasy society, this incarceration would include a deconstruction and rebuilding of the broken human being, starting from their childhood to relive the shame and the pain and to witness how the rot set in, and culminating in a regrowth of a new self based on the elements that have always been lacking; love and mana. Can the hideous beast who fatally battered the brains of two babies be redeemed? I don’t know the answer, but that is not the question people are asking. New Zealanders are asking why we should bother trying, throwing extensive taxpayer dollars onto a human scrap-heap. My response is twofold; an inclusive society must be just that, we cannot afford to turn our backs on anyone for it is the same as sowing the seeds of our own destruction, and latterly we must bridge the gap between how we would act toward the murderer as a child, whom we would do anything to rescue, and as an adult whom we would condemn. They are not so far removed. Perhaps the child can still be rescued from within the breast of a monster.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 17

STRAIGHT TALK

MARK STEYN Why the UN is for losers

couple of years ago, I was asked a question about the United Nations and replied that it was a good basic axiom that if you took a quart of ice cream and mixed it with a quart of dog feces the result would taste more like the latter than the former. There was a useful example of that the other day from a leading UN honcho. Now I confess I have a sneaking admiration for the more shameless transnational apparatchiks: Two years ago, you may recall, Sudan was elected to the UN Human Rights Commission at a time when the government’s proxies were busy slaughtering and gang-raping their way round Darfur. The last thing one needs when one’s got a hectic schedule of mass murder on “In a complicated world, the US one’s plate is a lot of tedious isn’t big enough to go it alone, paper-shuffling committee meetings in New York, but but it is big enough to give Sudan’s ambassador, Elfatih everything it’s got to the UN, and Mohammed Ahmed Erwa, rose to the occain return the UN will hold meetings gamely sion by announcing, upon explaining why the US can’t go it joining the Commission, alone or with anyone else” that he was very concerned about human rights abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. I gotta hand it to the guy. For the emissary of a bloodsoaked genocidal psycho state, that’s pretty funny. But the danger, when you enroll the free nations and the thug states in the same club, isn’t that they meet each other halfway but that the free world winds up going two-thirds, three-quarters, seven-eighths of the way. Consider the speech the other day by Kofi Annan’s deputy. Who is he? Some bespoke apologist for some banana republic or Islamist basket-case? Not at all. He’s called Mark Malloch Brown and he’s one of those smooth-talking Brits. The bit in the speech that got everyone’s attention was when he argued that the reason the UN was so unpopular in America was that the moronic hayseeds in flyover country had fallen for the right-wing blowhards – or, as he put it, “much of the public discourse that reaches the U.S. heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.” A propos his reference to America’s Number One talk show host, he didn’t, in fact, say “Limbaugh” but “Lim-bow”,

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as in “Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me A Bow-Wow”. A chap as important as Mr Malloch Brown can’t be expected to tune in a radio and actually listen to Rush in order to get his name correct: after all, he’s a lot busier than those dimwit yokels in the “heartland”. Blaming their woes on right-wing talk radio isn’t all the UN’s learned from the Democratic Party. The Deputy Secretary General’s fellow speakers at this meeting included the billionaire Bush-hater George Soros, who happens to be not only the Democrats’ sugar daddy but also Mr Malloch Brown’s next-door neighbor and landlord. Mr Malloch Brown earns $125,000 a year, $120,000 of which he gives to Mr Soros as rent for his home, next to the gazillionaire’s own in Westchester County, New York. When they entered into this relationship, Mr Malloch Brown was head of the UN Development Program, which works with Mr Soros on many multimillion dollar projects. The Deputy Secretary General insists there’s nothing “improper” in his mixing of his professional and personal lives and, indeed, by the ethical standards of the UN – which is to say the Oil-for-Fraud program, the Child-Sex-for-Food program, etc – there isn’t. Mr Malloch Brown is an international civil servant. Were he merely a national civil servant at Britain’s Department of Health or Transport, it would have been unthinkable for him to have rented a home for 96% of his salary from the chairman of Glaxo Smith Kline or Virgin Airways. But at the UN it’s not just thinkable but doable: when in Turtle Bay, do as the Ghanaians do. And here’s the thing: Mr Malloch Brown is admiringly spoken of (by those who concede sorrowfully that the auditing of the ledgers in Kofi Annan’s accounts department isn’t all it might be) as the agent of reform. Or, at any rate, “reform”. The Deputy Secretary General’s speech was an artful one, arguing that, in a world where “new national security challenges basically thumb their noses at old notions of national sovereignty”, the US needs the UN. On closer inspection, what he means is that the UN needs the US – to supply money, troops, money, equipment, money, technology and money. In a complicated world, the US isn’t big enough to go it alone, but it is big enough to give everything it’s got to the UN, and in return the UN will hold meetings explaining why the US can’t go it alone or with anyone else. In a nicely Sudanese touch,

Mr Malloch Brown announced that “my kids were on the Mall in Washington, demanding President Bush to do more to end the genocide in Darfur” but that the President couldn’t do more in Darfur without the UN. Er, hang on. On Darfur, Bush has been impeccably transnational. He agreed to go the UN route and, as always happens when you do that, everybody’s dead. Forget Darfur, and Iraq and Iran. We’re all men of the world here, we can all understand why certain powers might feel it was in their interest to be pro-Saddam or pro-genocide or pro-nuking Israel. Instead, take an issue on which the permanent members of the Security Council were in perfect harmony: the tsunami. Even the French aren’t pro-tsunami. There were no resolutions to be watered down over months of negotiations over what meaningless form of words the Chinese were prepared to string along with. And yet Malloch Brown’s permanent 24/7 lavishly funded humanitarian bureaucracy was useless. The only actual relief effort – you know, saving lives, restoring the water supply, providing shelter – was done by the US, Australia and a handful of others. The United Nations is a September 10th organization. Five years on, to leave Iran or even Darfur in its hands is as ludicrous as Churchill and Roosevelt fretting over whether they had the League of Nations’ approval to launch D-Day. The urbane cynicism of Malloch Brown is very revealing: the problem with transnationalism is not what it does to the Sudanese and Ghanaians; it’s what it does to us. © Mark Steyn, 2006

“Blaming their woes on right-wing talk radio isn’t all the UN’s learned from the Democratic Party. The Deputy Secretary General’s fellow speakers at this meeting included the billionaire Bush-hater George Soros, who happens to be not only the Democrats’ sugar daddy but also Mr Malloch Brown’s next door neighbor and landlord. Mr Malloch Brown earns $125,000 a year, $120,000 of which he gives to Mr Soros as rent for his home, next to the gazillionaire’s own in Westchester County, New York”

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EYES RIGHT

RICHARD PROSSER The Genie and the Bottle

laddin. I dream of Jeannie. We all know the story; a genie, imprisoned for aeons in a bottle, lamp, or similar suitable container, is released by the actions of a curious passer-by. The Genie, immensely grateful at being freed from captivity, grants his rescuer three wishes. The rescuer predictably chooses wealth, love, and something nice for the weekend, and everyone lives happily ever after. The extended version of the story generally involves much hilarity, as the genie, well versed in the ways of 1970s America, bumbles his – or her – way through an on-going series of jolly japes, or in cartoon form, complete with a rather camp British-butler voice, sprinkles various wrongdoers with showers of magic dust “The Social Breakdown Genie is and falling anvils. All well and good; but out of his bottle, facilitated by a unfortunately the story as burgeoning DPB and the PC-driven we are told it in the West removal of physical discipline from is incomplete. The tradiArabian tale is a far daily life” tional darker affair. The genie, or d’jinn, is in the bottle for a very good reason; it’s been placed there, supposedly for all eternity, on account of it being a particularly nasty and evil wee beastie, who, left unchecked, would wreak mayhem and ruin on all those it encounters. Furthermore, the original genie has it’s own particular slant on the relative fairness of exchanging favours. The rescuer, having freed the genie, is entitled to his or her three wishes; once the wishes are granted, however, the slate is wiped, and the hapless rescuer immediately becomes fair game for the genie. Several millennia cooped up in a bottle has left the genie hungry, vengeful, and, to put it gently, somewhat frustrated by lack of companionship – and the rescuer inevitably becomes the first victim of his various appetites. The moral of the story, that being its purpose in the Arabian tradition, is to illustrate that there are some things which are best left alone, lest they should come back and bite one in the posterior. And genies, as we all know, once out of their respective bottles, are notoriously difficult to put back. This is, or should be, a matter of some concern to those who seek to govern our fair land, because in recent years,

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altogether too many dangerous genies have been released from their bottles, by the actions of passing Governments and their various leaders. Some of these may be due to curiosity, naïveté, foolishness, or plain lack of grey matter; some, it might be argued, are possibly the result of deliberate social engineering, or perhaps even an agenda other than that placed before the public scrutiny. It is of concern to wanna-be political leaders because in the very near future, in order to prevent this country and what we like to call its society from slipping into a mess of our own making, some hard decisions are going to have to be made. A few genies are going to have to go back in their bottles. In some quarters, some of this rebottling will trigger much wailing and discontent; but it will need to be done nonetheless. Top of the list is corporal punishment. Our schools, the education system, the integrity of the next generation itself, is under threat because of the lack of effective discipline in the classroom. Kids cannot be expected to be reasoned with as one might do with an adult; they’re kids. They lack knowledge, understanding, and perspective. That’s why they’re at school. They need boundaries, and the imposition of discipline to preserve those boundaries until such time as they have developed discipline themselves. When they get out of line, they need a whack. As their self-discipline develops, the mere threat of a whack is often sufficient. This is not about brutality, or assault, or the diminution of human rights. It’s about common sense. The age for purchasing alcohol should never have come down, and it needs to go back up. With due apologies to the purists, it isn’t good enough that because a person can vote and serve their country at eighteen, that we assume they also have the ability to responsibly regulate their drinking. Rules have always been more like guidelines in New Zealand. Just as everyone accepts that the 100km/h speed limit really means 110, or 120 if you can get away with it, so the old drinking age of 20 really meant 18, and naturally, 18 really means 16. And 16 is really too young. Going into a pub with Mum and Dad, or having a few supervised beers at home, is not the same as being able to waltz into a bottle store and stock up on vodka for your 15- and 16-year-old mates. Sometimes we catch the politicians in the act, and manage to prevent them from pulling the bung from yet

another genie bottle; when Phil Goff wanted to legalise sex for twelve-year-olds because they were doing it anyway, the public rightly told him where he could put his corkscrew. I got news for ya, Phil; rape, and murder, and manufacturing P don’t need to be legalised either, just because people are doing it anyway. Growing up in New Zealand, in my generation at least, one tended to assume that the people running the country more or less knew what they were doing. Most kids had a Dad as well as a Mum, and they were married and lived in the same house. When the TV shut down for the night at eleven-thirty everyone went to bed, because they had work in the morning; kids who played up got a smack on the backside, or in the worst cases, the jug cord round the legs, and if we needed any further reassurance that all was well with the world, we could rush out of our classrooms and look up to the sky every time the jets flew over, which was reasonably often. The All Blacks won more often than not, and we were given regular reminders of the many reasons we had for being proud of our military history, involvement, and capabilities. Somewhere in the last twenty-five years, however, a great deal of that has changed. The Social Breakdown Genie is out of his bottle, facilitated by a burgeoning DPB and the PC-driven removal of physical discipline from daily life. The Profit-beforePeople Genie got out when the nation’s silverware was sold off because owning it didn’t fit with some mindless theoretical ideology, and once free, it helped the Social Breakdown Genie to eat the country’s work ethic. Indeed, having granted the three wishes of the Cradle to the Grave via the Unemployment Benefit, the Social Welfare Genie has been rapaciously devouring the moral fibre of New Zealand for three generations now. The Pacifism Genie got loose on a promise of peace and safety in a pink fluffy world, and promptly set about destroying our sense of nationhood. Now, he’s emasculating a generation of young men, and next on his agenda is a plan to completely destroy New Zealand’s ability to protect itself. Worse still, the slide towards pacifism, and the measures which have had to be put into place to support it, has seen the politicisation of not only the military, but the Police as well. We know, without having to do an internet search, where this particular road leads; it can happen, that a country of educated people with an abundance of natural resources can slide into a self-made destructive hell. It happened not very long ago, and not very far away – it’s called Argentina. Perhaps worst of all is the Political Correctness Genie. This nasty insidious gremlin is responsible for a multitude of sins, from the electricity crisis because we’re not allowed to build power stations, to the destruction of the family because we’re not allowed to teach girls to cook, or tell gays that they can’t adopt children, to just this past month where we can’t tell a South Auckland family who murdered two of their babies that they’re a bunch of evil criminal losers, because they happen to be Maori and we can’t be being accused of racism. I say enough of this rubbish. There comes a time when it begins to dawn on a person that the people who run the country are not blessed with any greater wisdom, understanding, or humanity than the average Joe in the street; they’re the same people you were at primary school with, and while they’ve grown older, they haven’t necessarily got wiser. I say that this situation needs to be of concern to our intending

“Perhaps worst of all is the Political Correctness Genie. This nasty insidious gremlin is responsible for a multitude of sins, from the electricity crisis because we’re not allowed to build power stations, to the destruction of the family because we’re not allowed to teach girls to cook, or tell gays that they can’t adopt children, to just this past month where we can’t tell a South Auckland family who murdered two of their babies that they’re a bunch of evil criminal losers, because they happen to be Maori and we can’t be being accused of racism”

leaders because in the cold light of day, there are going to have to be some tough decisions taken in the next few years. Every one of Those Who Would Be King needs to look themselves very squarely in the eye and ask if they have the intestinal fortitude to lead, rather than to merely govern; it is not enough just to look for ways around the worst effects of the mistakes of the past. Some of them are going to need to be undone. This new millennium requires leadership with courage and vision. The mentality of welfarism needs to go. The NCEA needs to go. External exams have to be resurrected. Education without effort, success, or failure, will give us nothing but a genderless generation of losers. The RMA has to go as well – this land is our home, and we have to be allowed to live here, to develop it, to profit from it. DOC needs to be disbanded, the High Country Tenure Review Process needs to be abandoned, and having Maori as an official language is a pointless waste of time and money. Our military needs to be rebuilt, by people who can ignore the hysterical wailings of peaceniks, beancounters, and other assorted idiots. The nuclear ships ban is childish folly, particularly given that there is nothing at all in New Zealand law preventing us from constructing nuclear power stations. Corporal punishment must return, as must CMT. I could go on, but I won’t. You get the idea. It is time for New Zealand to look for real leadership, because the going, from here on in, is about to get rough. Anyone can hold the tiller when the sea is calm. Personally I don’t trust the socialists or the feminists to hold it when the swell starts to get up, and I’m not at all sure about most of the opposition, either. We need to trim the masts, batten the hatches, and get a few genies back in their bottles. It won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary. World War Two wasn’t easy; perhaps the naysayers and the apologists believe we shouldn’t have fought back? This writer doesn’t agree.

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SOAPBOX

SUE ARNOLD

ave the Howard & Clark governments made a decision that trade with Japan is more important than conserving whales? Given that both Governments claim to have the strongest anti whaling policy in the world; given Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell’s claims that Australia is powerless to act against Japan’s exponentially increasing “scientific whaling” quota, and the New Zealand’s Governments announcement “that legal advice suggests that legal action may fail” the public has been shortshrifted in terms of satisfactory explanations for the Government’s non-action. The issue of globalisation versus conservation has its nexus in the whaling “President Clinton threatened to issue. Unless anti-whaling use retaliatory economic sanctions nations take up the legal options available against against Japan over its “scientific Japan, trade priorities will whaling” program as one of his have successfully turned Environmental last acts in office” Multilateral Agreements (MEAs), such as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which relies on trade sanctions as a means of enforcement, into paper tigers. The trade issue is a smoking gun which needs to be investigated. Some clues can be found in the fact that Australia has adopted the tariff schedule of the World Customs Organisation (WCO). The WCO is responsible for processing more than 98 per cent of all international trade. The WCO administers the World Trade Organisation Valuation Agreement and has a close relationship with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) The WCO Tariff Schedule Australia & New Zealand have adopted includes not only items permitting trade in living whales, dolphins and porpoises but also trade in fresh, chilled or frozen meat of whales, dolphins and porpoises. When Australians for Animals Inc. asked a senior government bureaucrat why the Tariff Schedules included the meat and products of cetaceans in direct contradiction with Australia’s marine mammal conservation laws, we were told that: “We’re putting anything and everything on the Tariff Schedules.” No wombats, needless to say. In New Zealand’s case cetacean products were already

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on a separate “Prohibited Imports First Schedule.” The question needs to be asked “Why are they on a prohibited import list and a tariff schedule?” The US Harmonized Tariff Schedule also includes similar listings which allow for the import and export of cetacean meat, again in direct violation of US marine mammal conservation laws. In the past the US, as the world’s only super power, has been the only snag in the works in terms of preventing Japan’s whaling excesses. President Clinton threatened to use retaliatory economic sanctions against Japan over its “scientific whaling” program as one of his last acts in office. Under the Pelly Amendment, a US President may impose sanctions which would deny Japan future access to fishing rights in US waters. However, the time period required for the sanctions to be imposed ran out and, in any event, there are no Japanese fishing interests in US waters that would be impacted. The WTO is driving the world conservation agenda. Trade sanctions as a means of enforcing MEAs are critical to the successful operation of conventions such as the IWC and the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Because of the extraordinary complexity of the WTO and the fact that few NGOs are dealing with trade and its impacts on international environmental conventions, the Federal Government believes it can safely continue its mantra of non-action against Japan. In fact, Japan is ready and waiting for any challenge to the WTO. Japan has indicated in other fora that if sanctions are imposed, it would make an official complaint to the WTO. Sanctions could be counter productive. US farm and agribusiness groups are worried that imposing sanctions against Japan could damage sales to their most important agricultural market, Japan. The US wheat industry is also worried about the same ramifications. Australia’s former Minister for the Environment, Sen. Robert Hill, said that “sanctions can be counter productive. You introduce economic sanctions and they retaliate. All they do is create a situation which ends up hurting your own producers.” Yet Japan’s subsidy to its own whaling industry of around US$l0 million a year is a clear violation of the WTO. The whaling issue has created a global Mexican stand

Soapbox is an occasional column in Investigate. If you have an issue you’d like to sound off about, email 750 words to editorial@investigatemagazine.com

Whales OR free trade? – Whales AND fair trade?

off. Whilst experts in international law have identified at least five international conventions which Japan is violating in undertaking its obscene ‘scientific’ whaling program, as well as solid legal options, the Federal Government refuses to act. Other anti whaling nations also refuse to take up the legal options available whilst environmental groups wring their collective hands and undertake desperately dangerous acts to stop Japan’s whaling fleet in Antarctica. In the corridors of the last IWC meeting in Ulsan, South Korea, members of anti whaling nations’ delegations spoke privately about their concerns over the fact that trade issues are driving the IWC agenda. As well, they indicated that the likelihood of preventing Japan’s whaling excesses were zero because of the Bush administration’s devotion to free trade, even at the cost of whale extinction. Biodiversity Economics, an initiative of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), arguably, the world’s most prestigious conservation organization, sums up the issue. “The WTO is committed to furthering trade liberal-

ization, while a range of MEAs, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) employ trade measure for the purpose of environmental protection. It is thus possible that MEA trade measure could be found in breach of WTO/GATT rules regarding quantitative restrictions on trade and non discrimination.” Precisely. Sanctions against Japan under the IWC fall into the same category. Whales have no economic clout where it counts and that’s the tragedy. Meantime, both Prime Ministers would do well to explain to the concerned Australian and New Zealand public how their governments can juggle their positions as leaders of the world’s anti whaling nations whilst at the same time, a passionate advocate of free trade. Something has to give. Sue Arnold is Coordinator of Australians for Animals International, an IWC NGO group based in Byron Bay. New Zealand Contact: Dave Head, Marine Environment Projects Manager C.E.A.C. Inc. www.stopwhaling.co.nz

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LINE ONE

CHRIS CARTER They shoot horses, don’t they?

t last! An issue has finally arisen where ordinary New Zealanders can revolt against a piece of legislation so loopy as to deserve immediate inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records: Dog Chipping, no not a culinary process in a North Korean restaurant, but rather, a form of legislative self abuse that was recently conducted, after dark, by our parliamentary followers of the principals of Onin. Sadly, from time to time a large and invariably unregistered dog decides to munch on either a completely innocent passer by or, worse, a small kiddie, which quite naturally spurs the public at large to collectively cry that “something must be done.” In New Zealand of course, being a land that now conThere comes a time in any society tains a population largely when realisation comes that it is incapable of collective self help, or indeed individual being largely governed by either acts that might alleviate incredibly incompetent or perhaps, problems of this nature, the must be done” just stupid people” “something cry is plainly addressed to those least capable of any kind of rational thought, or indeed taking any form of action that doesn’t include a very clear demonstration of the need, in parliament, for a resident psychiatrist. Dear God, how are we to protect ourselves now, and in the future, from the mental aberrations that collectively go together to become eventually the “Law” in this benighted land? A recent and apparently well-conducted newspaper poll had an overwhelming percentage of the population at large quite clearly stating that the chipping of man’s best friend would be a completely useless measure, if the aim was to protect folk against being bitten or attacked by a dog. And this result is in no real way surprising is it, common sense quite plainly bringing normal and sensible people to the conclusion that chipping dogs would inevitably lead to a steep rise in dog registration fees, that would then quite predictably lead to people no longer bothering to register their dogs at all! The local councils have already built a whole new bureaucracy around the old dog catcher’s role, to the point where the usually city-based “Animal Control Officers” – who are now swanning around the streets in brand new Remuera Tractors at great expense to the already finan-

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cially shattered ratepayers – will now be confronted with even more costs as they are bound to enforce this new dog chipping law. A dog breeder friend of mine opined a couple of days back that hell will freeze over before he starts stuffing electronic devices into any of his pups, indeed he then went on to make several very impolite observations as to where he would like to stick bulk packages of these things which, as I pointed out to him, was bordering on sedition. Sedition, a recently re-discovered, if ancient, law, has now resurfaced and is being used again, essentially it would appear, to stifle any dissent that may be directed against she who must be obeyed and the loopy rabble that she currently leads. Someone, and I can’t for the life of me remember who it was, once famously observed that it is “a citizen’s absolute duty to ignore and indeed to actively break bad laws” which in our current political climate would definitely earn him a charge of sedition would it not? But what the hell, Chris, time to stand up and be counted I say. Let the Revolution begin, the hell with the confused and mentally impotent prats who have determined that Rover shall henceforth buzz electronically...do not cooperate! Ignore this stupid and ill-considered attempt by our pollies to be seen to be doing “something”, because, by cooperating, we will simply become, by inference, as silly as they are won’t we? There is another old saying of which I’m particularly fond, along the lines of “from little acorns oak trees grow” which suggests to me that this relatively minor dog chipping thing is, in fact, exactly the sort of issue where the people of this country can finally come together in common cause, and to show these parliamentary ingrates that our previously bovine compliance with their every ill-considered law change is henceforth not always going to happen. Just look at some of the incredibly stupid things that they have come up with in recent times that like zombies we have just sat there and dumbly accepted! The Prostitutes “Reform” Bill that has led to school kids becoming hookers en-masse. Knock shops, legal and illegal, opening up in suburban streets all over the place. Young foreign students being forced to prostitute themselves in these joints by criminals to cover debts etc or they don’t get their passports back...All that has really been achieved by this loopy legislation has been to lower our community standards to match those in parliament, which as we well know are scarcely amongst those to be

widely admired! Then we have half the teenage population well on the way to becoming screaming dipsomaniacs, all because in a “conscience” vote, which by the way, if there was a classic misuse of the English language, this use of the word “conscience” would certainly head any list, these completely out of touch with reality, state beneficiaries, decided a while back to lower the drinking age to 18, with of course the inevitable results that had been well predicted by anyone of any intelligence. Then we have them fiddling around with classic incompetence, unable in any way to begin to stem the tide of methamphetamine usage in this country, even though it is the biggest single threat to the health, safety, and well being of our young people that we have yet to see. P is fuelling burglary, theft, assault, it is clearly bringing tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits to our (never to be mentioned) ethnic gangs, and what are these nitwits in parliament doing? Spending weeks, and God knows how much time and money, on debating whether or not to chip Mrs Average’s little lap dog. Well, at the risk of becoming another victim of the PM’s wrath, and having her now fully-politicised police force arrest me for “sedition”, I call on each and every dog owner in this land to simply ignore this new “law” and thereby show this so called “government” that we are in no way going to dignify their pipe dreams with our usual placid acquiescence. Look at it this way, there comes a time in any society when realisation comes that it is being largely governed by either incredibly incompetent or perhaps, just stupid people. At this point in time also comes along a decision that has to be taken by us. If we simply and quietly, yes, just like sheep go along with things that, quite plainly, a majority find abhorrent, or in a general opinion think will cause actual harm to our society, then surely it is our absolute duty, as good citizens, to rebel against these legislative outrages. Put it another way, if true democracy is to be a living process, surely it should not be reduced to a three yearly expression of

the public will at the ballot box to then have in essence, a three year dictatorship. To have a meaningful democracy, we must be continually vigilant, and in particular, remind those who we elect that it is they who have been placed in parliament to serve us, and not the other way around. When they screw up, we should collectively tell them that they have done so, and that henceforth, they should be well aware that simply employing the usual political chant that “This is now the law” will no longer be a sufficient reason that a given “law” will necessarily be complied with. If a law is wrong, in the views of the majority, then to obey it is the very worst threat to democracy that we, the public, can be a party to. Calling for civil disobedience in this regard, far from being seditious, is the absolute right of a free people to, without fear express by word and if necessary action, opposition to anything that our government does that clearly is contrary to the public wish. Now, if we worked on the principle that all dangers to society should be electronically tagged, then this could well be an entirely different matter. The “authorities” could begin by declaring any dissent, even towards loony laws, “seditious”...and then...tag me! Quite a thought actually because then I could really become a part of mainstream society, and learn, like Rover, to roll over on command, to beg for scraps from social welfare WITHOUT biting the hand that now is trying to feed us all. Remember to gently lick burglars who, as we all now know, are actually victims, and therefore should never be chewed up or even mildly nibbled. Finally I could be taught to be very happy about being infested with flea-like civil servants, who in incredible numbers now daily dine from my dwindling blood supply. There is hope for me yet, I simply need tagging and to be socially re-engineered, or perhaps even lobotomised, which certainly should take care of this wretch’s, anti-social, revolutionary thoughts! Freedom and democracy? Whatever next! Chris Carter appears in association with www.snitch.co.nz, a must-see site.

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TOUGH QUESTIONS

IAN WISHART

‘Sensing Murder’ just kills me

t is a strange but true fact that, around the world, not one psychic featured on TV shows like Sensing Murder has ever solved a crime for police. It makes interesting television for about 30 seconds, but there’s only so much vagueness and there’s only so many leading questions before viewers start tearing their hair out in frustration at the gullibility of TV crews everywhere. Part of it is because many TV producers live in suburbs like Ponsonby and Grey Lynn where New Age is still “in”, in the same way that those flared Levis at the back of the wardrobe from 1978 are suddenly de rigeur all over again. It is also true, however, that in homes and offices around the country, people are reading horoscopes, glancing at tea leaves and book“When a psychic plugs into ing appointments with old Gruntfuttock, the the occult to talk to your dead Mavis curmudgeonly clairvoygrandmother, are they really ant from down the road dialing up the old dear, or are they who does Tarot readings for booze money on Friday unwittingly being fed a line by your afternoons. If Mavis gets cunning family’s personal dark angel?” enough, or if one of her clients one day turns out to be the producer of Sensing Murder, then she might even get her own TV show, but usually despite their hopes and ambitions, they don’t. Indeed, it was fascinating to read the other day how 70s psychic icon and spoon-bender Uri Geller recently got taken for a ride on a real estate deal; like, he hadn’t seen it coming? Which reminds me, when was the last time a psychic won lotto? Colin Fry and others like him are psychic frauds – albeit great entertainment, if your definition of “entertainment” includes preying on the desperate hopes of sad people looking for news of loved ones who walked toward the light. Most of these “psychics” make their money by reading body language and asking questions designed to get participants to fill in most of the gaps. Others have gone to great pains to research criminal cases exhaustively for weeks before a show so that they can appear to know intimate details of a case. Either of these two categories of “psychic” can be dismissed as charlatans, but occasionally one comes along who appears to get it right.

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You can’t necessarily throw “charlatan” at the anonymous woman who sensed she had information about a missing Palmerston North pensioner recently. According to news reports, she approached police after getting a vision of a location. When they searched it, police found items belonging to the elderly man. Taken at face value, it’s either an incredibly lucky guess or she did, indeed get a supernatural glimpse. Accepting the existence of the supernatural is easy for most people. In fact, anyone who is not one of the ten percent of New Zealanders who are atheists believes in the possibility of the supernatural, whether they realize it or not. The moment that you believe the world didn’t begin by chance you’ve opened the door to unseen entities. The problem for the average punter is discerning which unseen entity is worth listening to. Shirley Maclaine and other New Age aficionados claim to be channeling anyone from 4,000 year old Egyptian mummies to old Rupert the gardener who kicked the bucket last autumn. If you listen to Colin Fry, allegedly every ghost in existence is hanging around him waiting for a chance to tell their loved ones left behind that, really, they preferred the yellow tea-towels to the blue. Give me a break! The Christian explanation for psychics and clairvoyants who occasionally get details right is a simple one. Follow the logic with me for a moment: The Bible doesn’t say the occult doesn’t work – instead it says the occult is ultimately controlled by Evil and that Christians who wish to be lucky enough to see the light when they die should avoid the occult like the plague. In Demonology, that branch of Christian study dealing with the angelic realm, it is held that the revolution in Heaven – when Satan fell from grace and took a whole lot of dark angels with him – has left those entities down here with the rest of us, toying with human hearts and minds. Spirit entities are, to all intents and purposes, immortal. Remember how some people and families just seem cursed (Kennedys, anyone)? We talk about houses or places being haunted, but it is entirely possible that families are as well. When a psychic plugs into the occult to talk to your dead grandmother, are they really dialing up the old dear, or are they unwittingly being fed a line by your family’s personal dark angel? After all, an immortal being that’s been hanging around your family for centuries is quite capable of revealing to a psychic that your

DRIFT OFF TO SLEEP NATURALLY

- 6 1 äÈ

grandmother was married to a man named Jim with a mole on his nose. Which is more likely: (1) that having walked into the light and found heaven, your grandmother decides to lurk around your home instead and chat up the occasional psychic on your behalf, or (2) that something dark is having a little fun at your expense? Motive? Anything that confuses people in the quest for spiritual truth and prevents them achieving genuine reconciliation with God is a point on the board for Satan. If people hang back from believing in Christ because they can’t shake their belief in the occult, that’s a point on the board for Satan. Dark angels can provide true information to mediums, and do so to boost people’s faith in the occult. They cannot foretell the future, but they can see the present and remember the past. Remember I urged you to follow the logic? Let me complete the picture. The reason we know the occult is evil is because in the Bible none of God’s angels want glory for themselves, and all defer to the Holy Spirit as the ultimate supernatural power. Yet in the occult, those who use it consider themselves to have powers – an attitude strikingly similar to the pride of Lucifer just before his fall. In Wicca and New Age, practitioners either revel in their own glory or praise spiritual beings that are clearly non-Christian. Some people do seem to have a heightened sensitivity to the supernatural. I know one or two, including one who became a Christian. The ‘gift’ she felt she’d had from birth was supercharged once she’d been baptized in Christ, and acknowledged the Holy Spirit as the true source. Walking through the Warehouse looking for a gift for her daughter, this woman picked up a bangle and threw it in her shopping trolley. As she did so, she felt the hackles rise, and a strong sense that God was trying to get her attention. She looked around and couldn’t figure out why, but after a few seconds had a hunch and picked up the bangle. There was nothing immediately obvious about it, but just as she was about to put it back in her trolley she caught a glimpse of a symbol on the inside of the bangle – tiny astrological symbols no bigger than a couple of millimeters each. She was stunned that God had reached out to grab her attention over what seemed like a harmless child’s bracelet, effectively warning her that buying it for her daughter would be like putting spiritual handcuffs on her wrists. In writing this column, I wondered whether there was a relevant Bible verse. As God is my witness, this is what I found on a computer text search moments ago, in Ezekiel 13:18, after writing the above paragraph: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists…will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? … I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms. I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD.” If you feel you have a psychic ‘gift’, become a Christian, repent of the occult (Acts 8:9-24), and watch your spiritual discernment grow exponentially. Choose to work within the light, not the dark. No human has innate spiritual power in their own authority. We tap into it and there are only two possible sources. Which has your soul this day?

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COVER STORY

THE LEGACY OF THE K AHUIS CAN MAORIDOM’S UNDERCLASS BE SAVED?

n the streets of South Auckland you may as well be in space: no one can hear you scream. In the mid 80s I lived and worked there. In the 1990s, working firstly for 3 News and then One News as a crime reporter, I haunted what the Herald on Sunday called “the streets of no shame” on a weekly basis – camera crews have been known to count their hubcaps before leaving the area. When the police hunt for serial rapist Joseph Thompson was at it’s high point, I recall protesting loudly in the newsroom every time I was assigned to the case. The reason? The rapist frequently got in through unlocked doors and windows. After years of attacks, journalists could still venture out in South Auckland and be asked by locals, “What serial rapist?”. While middle New Zealand obsessed, many South Aucklanders weren’t even aware. The Badlands, an area of real estate that roughly begins at a latitude running between Mangere Bridge and Mt Wellington; it’s a line many Aucklanders dare not cross, if we still had old-fashioned maps they’d shade out large chunks of South Auckland with the words, “Here be Dragons”. It was in South Auckland that 12 year old Bailey Kurariki was part of a mob who brutally slaughtered pizza delivery worker Michael Choy. It was in South Auckland that 14 year old Ngatai Rewiti chose a year ago to haul an 8kg hunk of con28, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

Two major crimes, both in South Auckland. Two baby twins killed in a house of indifference, and a motorist killed instantly by an 8kg rock dropped from an overbridge by a schoolboy. IAN WISHART profiles the rise of the Badlands, and explores some novel solutions being proposed by Maori leaders

crete up to a motorway overbridge and drop it on an unsuspecting motorist. Rewiti was there with his younger brother and a mate. One of them acted as lookout – target-spotter might be more accurate – while Rewiti perched his killer rock on the railing, waiting for the right moment. More than two million of us have taken that journey, up and down Auckland’s southern motorway, at some time in our lives. Sometimes, approaching the gray, gloomy and often graffiti-emblazoned structures that criss-cross New Zealand’s busiest arterial route, motorists glance anxiously skywards at the youthful shadows hanging over the railings. At 100 km/h closing speed, and three to four lanes of traffic, there’s not a lot of escape room, or time to evade danger for that matter. According to police, an average of an item a week is being randomly dropped from the overpasses onto traffic below, and the rate is increasing; remember, these are only the reported incidents – many more pass unreported. But on August 19 last year, Chris Currie’s number was up. On the last few k’s of a journey from Taupo to Auckland with his girlfriend and mates in the car, 20 year old Currie had no inkling of the death hurtling toward him in the dark. “As we were going under the overbridge there was just this loud smash,” Currie’s girlfriend Helen McCreadie told the Auckland High Court this month. “The windscreen was shattered and then I looked at Chris and at the time I thought he was just knocked out.”

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Fighting back the tears, McCreadie says Currie’s hands slumped to his side, and the car began to speed up. She tried to control it but failed. They were on the motorway, accelerating, in the dark, with what she thought was an unconscious driver. “When … I knew we were going to crash, I wrapped my arms around Chris’s head protect him -- he wasn’t moving at all.” What McCreadie didn’t realize was that her boyfriend was already dead. Ngatai Rewiti’s 8kg concrete slab had slammed through the windscreen, glanced into Currie’s jaw –smashing it – before plunging down into his sternum, crushing the bones into his heart, exploding it almost beyond recognition. If you believe Rewiti’s defence lawyer – and the jury ultimately did – the Otahuhu teenager and street gang member didn’t fully appreciate that an eight kilo bomb dropped on a speeding car could kill somebody, or make the car career out of control into another car, forcing a multiple-vehicle smash on the highway. “He was just a 14 year old boy”, the lawyer explained, appealing perhaps to middle-class TV images of what teenagers are like. Detective Sergeant Neil Grimstone put it more eloquently, and accurately, when he laid the subtleties bare for the Herald on Sunday: “[He is] just an average 14-year-old South Auckland boy. [He is not] the average 14-year-old New Zealand schoolboy.” Already, the boy from the Badlands is a hero to his homies. When the newspaper tracked down the kid who’d acted as lookout on the killing, the youth told the paper that, yeah, he was “sad, not for that man, but for Ngatai. He’s my mate.” The case is a tragedy in so many ways: an innocent man died in a random killing which the defence lawyer called manslaughter, not murder. It is tragic if Reweti and his mates genuinely were too stupid and too far gone in the slide into subhumanity to realize that they were almost certain to kill. And it is a tragedy if Reweti, as many believe, was at 14 already so far gone that he knew it was murder and just didn’t care. And the Reweti savagery isn’t the only South Auckland crime hitting the headlines at the moment.

t was Sunday, June 18, when New Zealanders woke to the news that first one, and then the remaining Kahui twin had died at Auckland’s Starship Hospital, some six days after being admitted with violent head injuries and, in Chris’ case, a broken thigh. Chris and Cru Kahui were only three months old, entering the world prematurely as triplets. Their sibling had died soon after birth, but it was tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars and the hard work of pediatricians at Starship who nursed Chris and Cru through those crucial first weeks. The babies’ parents, Macsyna King and Sonny Chris Kahui, were apparently as rare as takahe during that time, causing hospital staff to worry what kind of parenting bond existed in the Kahui family. They should have been worried. Macsyna King had a track record of abandoning her kids, according to those who know her. As the Sunday Star-Times’ Tim Hume noted: “For three young children, their first sighting of their mother for more than five years came when they saw Macsyna King on the TV news… at the tangi for two half brothers they did not know existed.” One of King’s former partners told the paper he’d taken over full-time care of King’s two oldest children when they were aged two and four, because King “got a taste for the party life”.

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“And what was mother Macsyna King thinking when she apparently left two helpless babies alone with other adults for 12 hours while she went out socializing?”

“She didn’t have…fun without the night life – she just enjoyed it more than family life, I guess,” he remarked ruefully. It was a similar story from the father of King’s other daughter – he told Hume he’d caught King “messing around with another guy” while leaving their daughter in the care of strangers. The family achieved supernova notoriety for a number of reasons in the days following the deaths of the twins. On the one hand was the much publicized “tight 12” – the number of people at the Kahui house refusing to cooperate with police and reportedly lawyered-up so tight they wouldn’t even break wind without counsel. On the other hand, here was a whanau soaking up more than $2,000 a week in welfare benefits while crammed into a state house in the Badlands. A house of ill-repute, according to those nearby. What was the hospital thinking when they released two delicate premature babies into the care of two people who’d allegedly barely visited the children in hospital? And what was mother Macsyna King thinking when she apparently left two helpless babies alone with other adults for 12 hours while she went out socializing? Maori Party leader Pita Sharples is one who paused to consider all these questions when he tried to convince the whanau to talk to police. After visiting the house in the early evening, he told TV reporters he was gutted by what he saw in the extended family: drunks, arguing, and what seemed like a callousness towards the deaths of the babies. The twins might easily have died because someone dropped a beer crate on their heads – it was that kind of house, he remarked. He declined to be interviewed for this article by Investigate, having turned down numerous other media requests as well after being accused of grandstanding by his political opponents. But Sharples wasn’t grandstanding. He was genuinely tickedoff about the bad rap his culture was getting as a result of the Lifestyles of the Poor and Infamous carry-on in South Auckland. One to sympathise with that is National MP Tau Henare. “Yeah, there is evidence to suggest it is socio-economic, but there is a hint of race in it as well. To be Maori over the last two weeks has been to be pilloried up hill and down dale. Somebody asked me ‘What’s it feel like to be a Maori this week?’ I said ‘Same as last week, bro, bloody great!’.” It’s been the great debating point for weeks now. Did police

give the Kahui parents special kid glove treatment while Pakeha mothers whose kids die of cot death have been hauled in for interrogation within minutes of dialing 111? Is child abuse a national problem, or really more of a Maori problem? Did political correctness kill the twins? Did three decades of Social Welfare dependency? How many beneficiaries does it take to change a lightbulb if there are 11 in the house? The Kahui case has been the straw that, perhaps, has broken the camel’s back of tolerance in middle New Zealand. Everywhere, everyone has an opinion. On the police softlysoftly approach, for example, Henare reckons New Zealanders are being too redneck. “Everybody’s got the right to remain silent. Even in America it is one of the fundamentals of the constitution. You don’t have to testify because you might incriminate yourself…[but] I have some worries because [police] came out all gung-ho and sort of wound-up the public, and then all of a sudden they’ve gone quiet. I think they’ve been told, ‘Hey, back it up, because you could be in trouble when you try and get a conviction. “I think a lot of it is because of the publicity, the media about it. They were baying for the blood of the whole family. It’s like a lynch mob, really, the lynch mentality. Bugger the rights of people, let’s not even give them lawyers for goodness sake! What sort of country would we live in if we didn’t have the protection of the justice system? “We should let the police do their job and lay some charges. It’s for the police to build the case and then the prosecution has to prosecute those charges. That’s the justice system we live in.

If you want to change that justice system whereby we don’t have lawyers and we just have police throw people in jail, well that’s fine until somebody else gets done for something like that and then there’ll be huge outrage that there are no human rights. “What does the nation want?,” asks Henare angrily. “Does the nation want a justice system whereby you’re allowed a lawyer, or does the nation want a system whereby you just throw people in jail like Mugabe? “Anyway, first I heard of it was the father had been interviewed for six hours, and the police would not allow his defence lawyer to have a look at the interview. These people were interviewed, and now as of today apparently there’s 200 been interviewed – I don’t think there were 200 people at that place the day it happened. So I think somebody somewhere needs to go through with a fine tooth comb right from the day they died, in fact even before then: what was the hospital doing, how come it was OK to send these kids home?” But what about the public outrage that getting an arrest has taken so long? “You can’t have a situation where nobody is responsible for the deaths of the two children. But that’s not my call, that’s the police’s job. I’m not going to ride around on a white horse saying ‘lynch em, lynch em’ about everyone who was involved in it – I don’t even know who was involved in it, and that’s the terrible thing: 99.9% of the country don’t know what happened. “It’s not for the community to try and find whodunit. It’s not for Susan Wood to ride in like the Marshal of Tombstone and do what I’ve never seen done before.”

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On a freedom and liberty basis, you can’t argue with the logic – the right to silence is indeed fundamental. But regardless, there is a community abhorrence that the killer of two helpless babies was effectively being protected by whanau “staunchness”, a factor present in other Maori child-killings of the past. Media commentator and Radio Waatea boss Willie Jackson says other Maori are feeling just as angry about it. “The circles I’m moving in, there was initially some respect for what [police] were doing, and then people basically have lost their patience. I think the Maori view on this now is pretty close to the Pakeha view, they’ve had enough, it’s time for some tough treatment, do the bloody business for goodness sake! People have had enough.” Tau Henare disagrees. “I think we need to step back a bit. I could go into a whole lot of cases where European fathers have killed their kids and then buggered off to Wellington – you know that one who drove all the way to Wanganui to hide the fact he killed his two daughters – you could go into all those sorts of cases. The fact of the matter is that it does happen and it will happen until we do something about the whole dysfunctional welfare system.” Willie Jackson says Henare is muddying the waters by trying to suggest child abuse is not a major problem in Maori homes. “I know Tau is saying it’s happening everywhere, well actually it’s much worse with our people – that’s just the reality. We’ve got to come up with new ways of dealing with it. You’ve seen our organization come up with a few ideas in the last few days, you might have heard John Tamihere on the radio or seen him on the TV. It might not be the final answer, but it’s another option. These people cannot manage their lives. I know this, you know this, John knows this. If people want to call it privatization, well, fine, but we know this and we’re offering another option.” For his part, Henare responds by trashing “the idiotic idea of saying ‘well, give the benefits to an organization like Waipareira Trust and that’ll solve your problems’. I don’t think so! That’s just people standing up wanting to clip the ticket as you go by!”

Maybe, maybe not. Jackson points out benefits could be managed by a range of community organizations, and National’s Judith Collins is suggesting smart cards with computer chips that prevent benefit money going on vice spending. Henare, however, claims the problem is bigger than the dole. “That’s not just paying benefits, that’s also to do with throwing thousands of people into state homes in one area, like Mangere or South Auckland. Heck, I was born in Otara! You never see any state houses in Remuera! It’s just like this new thing out in Hobsonville with the air base, what they want to do is put five or six hundred state houses on that. I mean for goodness sake! You just go from making one slum to another.” In other words, is Henare suggesting we’ve created ghettoes? “Exactly! Look at Glasgow, look at Manchester. That’s exactly what they did years and years ago, and when I went over there ten years ago they were pulling all the tenement buildings down because that creates trouble. When you put thousands of unemployed people on top of each other, what do you expect? And us, in the nice leafy suburbs like Remuera and Te Atatu, we don’t see it.” Ten years ago, former finance minister Sir Roger Douglas predicted parts of South Auckland might eventually just have to be fenced off and left – Escape From New York style – because of the growing social dysfunction. It sounded like radical musings from the right at the time, but now even former Alliance MP Willie Jackson admits it is something Maori tribal leaders are themselves pondering. “What we’ve got at the moment – no matter who the government is – it’s not working. So do we just write this crew, do we write these people off? Because that’s what tribal leaders are saying to me mate, I tell you! That’s what tribal people are saying – that you can’t actually doing anything about them, you’ve just got to write them off in terms of an economic loss. “The reality is people committing child abuse and crime are coming from the lower socio groups, but that’s not an excuse. You can’t continually come up with the excuse ‘Oh, they’re poor, and that’s the reason for it’. That’s just not a suitable excuse. But

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“Did police give the K ahui parents special kid glove treatment while Pakeha mothers whose kids die of cot death have been hauled in for interrogation within minutes of dialing 111?”

I tell you mate, it’s a reality. I live here in South Auckland and some of these people are so socially immature that they have no understanding of life, how to pay bills, how to look after their families. Their whole life is based around booze and drugs and KFC. I don’t accept, but I understand the environment those babies were brought up in: people waking up, out of it, drunk and everything, depressed, whatever. I can almost visualize it because I’ve seen it. “My relations have been involved in these situations. It’s almost endemic amongst our people, we’ve got a crisis right now in terms of what’s happening with Maori. “But our tribal leadership, they almost don’t want to know about them. They say it’s the government’s responsibility, it’s the Crown’s responsibility, and we’ve just got to move onwards and upwards and forget about this group of people – ‘there’s only a few of them’. “Man, there’s more than a few of them, I’ll tell you mate, there’s a hell of a lot of them. Of course it’s a ‘lost generation’. I was brought up with these people. Some of my mates and relations – I was brought up in a state house in Porirua and a state house in Mangere. That’s where I was brought up; OK, I’m not in a state house any more but I know the people, I’ve

been brought up with them and a lot of them have remained my mates and a lot of them are my relations. So it’s an absolute reality there that this country wants to deal with but no one knows quite how to deal with it.” Back in the 1960s when town planners thought they were doing great things, the state houses looked new and everyone going into them had an equal opportunity. Huge swathes of the larger cities were laid out, row upon row of boxes for the working classes and the less fortunate. But what the planners did not anticipate was the long term harm they would cause. Putting beneficiaries in state house areas creates ‘communities’ with few role models. Suddenly unemployed families are mixing with other unemployed families, and they feed off each other’s failure. Friendships are created, support groups, and it becomes comfortable to merely exist on a benefit rather than break out of it. Faced with the option of finding work, losing the state-funded house, and moving out of the area, many find the prospect too hard. You get used to eking out an existence, and your aspirations drop to meet your income, until such time as TV ads remind your kids what they’re missing. But without INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 33

a work ethic imprinted, moral barriers to theft and violence drop, and a cycle of crime begins. National’s Tau Henara is adamant that unless the social welfare system is radically overhauled, the Badlands are just going to get worse. After all, unemployment is reportedly at record lows at the moment. Those still without a job are considered by many to be “unemployable” – the product of decades of welfare and social breakdown. “Have a look at the essence of our social welfare system and put in place some real stringent measures along the way,” argues Henara. “And I’m not talking just about benefits, I’m talking about the way we house people. For goodness sake – 12 people in one house? How is that possible? There are people in the state housing system who have been in the same bloody house for 25 years for goodness sake! The state housing system was supposedly set up to help people on their way, give them that push and then get them into their own homes.”

ut isn’t there a danger, we ask, that in order to get the cut through Henare suggests, you ultimately have to introduce some sort of Big Brother surveillance system so you know where every single beneficiary is in the land, who they live with, the whole pina colada? “I don’t think you need to go that far, to barcode everybody, microchip every beneficiary. It is about systems, it is about engendering in your community: What is happening next door? Go and help.” Henare argues it is a problem that all New Zealanders, not just Maori, must take responsibility for. “Maori get pilloried for the deaths of two children, but I can tell you now there are more community organizations in Maoridom out there doing what they’ve done for the last 50 years – helping families. They don’t do it because they want to get paid for it. They do it after they’ve actually come home from their job. “Tuku Morgan suggested that it’s a breakdown in cultural values. If that Kahui family was right on track in terms of cultural values, then those kids wouldn’t have been touched. It’s as simple as that. I know people who have been on a benefit for years but love their kids like nobody’s business.” Does that mean he’s advocating marae justice? “Well that’s another thing. A marae based justice system doesn’t do anything in my view. That’s after the event. What about before the event? Before the event is the whole dysfunctional welfare system. It have to reiterate and stress it’s not only about dole payments, it’s about how you live and where you live. And if the state continues to make slums like Charles Dickens’ day then we’re going to have problems.” The solution, according to Henare, is moving beneficiaries out of Otara and Porirua and into Remuera and Khandallah, giving them some positive role models to rub shoulders with. Isn’t that a little naïve, we ask? Won’t middle New Zealand resent waking up to the Mongrel Mob next door? And won’t many of the unemployable simply see their new digs as fresh fields to exploit? “Look,” grunts Henare, “at the end of the day the change needs to be revolutionary rather than piecemeal. We’ve just got to bite the bullet. For goodness sake, if you give somebody a fibrolite house that is gross right from the word go then you’re going to get a gross family basically that doesn’t take any inter-

34, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

“Putting beneficiaries in state house areas creates ‘communities’ with few role models. Suddenly unemployed families are mixing with other unemployed families, and they feed off each other’s failure”

est in their household or whatever.” There is some agreement across Maoridom’s political spectrum that drastic change is necessary. “You’re a New Zealander! And Maori are your, we’re all countrymen together,” says Willie Jackson. “Maori and Pakeha are intertwined. This is not bloody Australia or South Africa. These are two races that have mixed so well it’s not funny, probably better than any other country in the world. So with that being the case Pakeha feel like they want to absolutely contribute to solving this too, and so they should, so they should. Because there’s been mixed messages coming out that only we can fix this. Only we can fix part of this, but we can’t fix all of this. Part of it is us owning up to the problem – and the reality is we’ve got a hell of a problem at the moment. I went over the figures with Cindy Kiro in an interview a couple of weeks ago, and she said we abuse our kids five times as much! That’s the reality, so don’t say we don’t have a problem, there is a real Maori problem at the moment. But in a wider context it’s a New Zealand problem because Pakeha New Zealanders should play a major part in terms of the uplifting of Maori if we really all want to be New Zealanders. That’s how I look at it.” As to those suggestions from tribal leaders that families like the Kahuis are too far gone to save, Jackson can’t agree. “We’re not prepared to do write them off, we just think that it’s time for another look at things in terms of how we distribute welfare. I think it’s been good, the debate over the past few days, because there’s got to be an alternative.” Says Henare: “The death of the Kahui twins, and the death of an innocent child in Iraq is exactly the same quite frankly, because at the end of the day they all end up six foot under. You can’t quantify it like that. You’ve got to get away from the emotional stuff. There’s nothing we can do – they are dead – let’s try and figure out how we can better arm ourselves and the whole community so it doesn’t happen again. Let’s actually look at the root cause of it all, and the root cause is a dysfunctional welfare system where you just hand out the benefit willy-nilly and give them no help whatsoever.”

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 35

PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY The Peter Davis mystery deepens

More evidence is emerging about a mysterious “incident” involving Prime Minister Helen Clark’s husband in the United States. But the more that comes to light, the more it appears the Beehive is in damage control mode – even though no media organization has yet published the full details of the alleged “incident”. IAN WISHART has the latest

oth the Prime Minister’s Office and the University of Auckland are evading direct questions about the movements of Helen Clark’s husband Peter Davis, as the mystery over an alleged incident involving Davis in the United States deepens. Last month, Investigate broke the story of how Davis had apparently required NZ Police assistance while in the US, possibly in San Francisco. After last month’s issue was printed, but four days before it went on sale, we received a new tip from a man with further specific details of an incident involving Davis, and advising the source of the story was a Judge. On the strength of that new information, Investigate phoned the Prime Minister’s Office again that morning querying whether Davis had been involved in an incident in either San Francisco or Los Angeles, or anywhere else in the United States. We also asked when Davis had last been in the US. What we received back at the end of the day was an answer specifically relating to Los Angeles airport, even though we had not restricted our question to the “airport”: BEEHIVE RESPONSE, Monday, June 12, 5:19pm In response to you asking if the PM was aware of an incident occurring at Los Angeles airport involving Peter Davis and requiring intervention by NZ government personnel, a spokesman for the PM said: “Not as far as we are aware.” David Lewis Chief Press Secretary Office of the Prime Minister Wellington, New Zealand

36, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

What, we wondered, did that mean? Was the PM’s spokesman not aware whether the PM was aware of the incident? Or did he mean that he himself wasn’t aware of the incident? Naturally, we fired off another request for clarification: INVESTIGATE QUESTION, Monday, June 12, 6:40pm Hi David, Thanks for your answer, but it really is not definitive enough. Whether or not the PM’s spokesman is aware of an incident is, with the greatest respect, irrelevant. Nor did it address my questions as to the temporality of Mr Davis’ US travel. I expect the Prime Minister to be fully briefed on any undue event that befalls her husband, therefore I would expect the PM herself to know categorically whether an incident of any kind occurred in any place. Accordingly, I’ll rephrase my questions to make a direct answer easier. These are questions specifically for the Prime Minister to answer in the first person. 1. When was Peter Davis last in the United States? 2. What was the date of the last occasion he exited the continental US via either San Francisco or Los Angeles (please specify the date applicable to each city)? 3. What status of NZ passport did Mr Davis last travel to the US on: ordinary private; government official; or diplomatic? 4. Is the Prime Minister aware of an incident where her husband required either NZ police or Foreign Affairs assistance to liaise with any Federal or State authorities in the US on his behalf, or indeed to assist in his repatriation to New Zealand?

HERALD/PRESSPIX

5. Can the Prime Minister categorically state that at no time in the past year has Peter Davis required New Zealand consular, embassy, or NZ governmental assistance of any kind whilst in the United States? 6. If he has required assistance of any kind, please specify the date and nature of assistance provided by any New Zealand official. Regards, Ian Wishart BEEHIVE RESPONSE, Tuesday, June 13, 1:59pm 1. When was Peter Davis last in the United States? Professor Davis is a private citizen. We have no comment. 2. What was the date of the last occasion he exited the continental US via either San Francisco or Los Angeles (please specify the date applicable to each city)? Professor Davis is a private citizen. We have no comment. 3. What status of NZ passport did Mr Davis last travel to the US on: ordinary private; government official; or diplomatic? When Professor Davis travels with the Prime Minister, he does so on a diplomatic passport. Otherwise, he does so as a private person on his own passport. His official trips are on the public record. 4. Is the Prime Minister aware of an incident where her husband required either NZ police or Foreign Affairs assistance to liaise with any Federal or State authorities in the US on his behalf, or indeed to assist in his repatriation to New Zealand? No. 5. Can the Prime Minister categorically state that at no time in the past year has Peter Davis required New

Zealand consular, embassy, or New Zealand governmental assistance of any kind whilst in the United States? We are not aware of New Zealand government assistance. 6. If he has required assistance of any kind, please specify the date and nature of assistance provided by any New Zealand official. See above. David Lewis

INVESTIGATE QUESTION, Tuesday, June 13, 2:58pm Hi David, Your answer to question 5 requires further clarification because of the use of “we” and the imprecision of the reply. Surely, the PM is in a position to know one way or the other or to seek definitive confirmation from officials. Accordingly I re-submit Q5 for a definitive personal answer from the PM on an issue of fact. I also add a Question 7 which asks: Q7: Is any official in the Prime Minister’s office or her secretariat aware of an incident where her husband required either NZ police or Foreign Affairs assistance to liaise with any Federal or State authorities in the US on his behalf, or indeed to assist in his repatriation to New Zealand? Yours sincerely, Ian Wishart PS: Also, can you please confirm that the Prime Minister has personally seen my questions to date and approved all answers? Regards, Ian W INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 37

BEEHIVE RESPONSE, Tuesday, June 13, 3:15pm Ian, with due respect, you’ve now asked the same question three times. I don’t intend spending my days replying to the same questions rephrased slightly. I’ve told you we are not aware of any incident. That means we have no knowledge of any incident as described. If you have some other information you’d like to put to the PM, do so. Until then, have a nice day. Regards, David Lewis Chief Press Secretary Office of the Prime Minister

INVESTIGATE QUESTION, Tuesday, June 13, 8:51pm David, Without wishing to sound like a broken record, you have not answered my questions. Specifically: “Your answer to question 5 requires further clarification because of the use of “we” and the imprecision of the reply. Surely, the PM is in a position to know one way or the other or to seek definitive confirmation from officials. Accordingly I re-submit Q5 for a definitive personal answer from the PM on an issue of fact.” I have not received a definitive answer from you, yet it is clearly within the Prime Minister’s power to make a categorical statement of fact about whether her husband has received the assistance defined in the question during the period defined in the question. Secondly, you failed to answer this one either: “Also, can you please confirm that the Prime Minister has personally seen my questions to date and approved all answers?” I look forward to getting the Prime Minister’s response to those questions. Regards, Ian Wishart

t has been a month since that last email was sent to David Lewis. So far, the Prime Minister’s Office has pointedly failed to respond in any way. And as pointed out, those answers that have been given are vague. Take our Question 4 and Lewis’ response: “4. Is the Prime Minister aware of an incident where her husband required either NZ police or Foreign Affairs assistance to liaise with any Federal or State authorities in the US on his behalf, or indeed to assist in his repatriation to New Zealand?” “No.” On the face of it, it appears to be a clear answer that the Prime Minister is unaware of the incident. But if Clark hadn’t even seen my question, then the answer only means that the PM’s spokesman is saying she is not aware. And the PM’s spokesman could be wrong. Perhaps Clark is aware but hasn’t discussed it with her media team. How would he know if he hasn’t asked her, and if he has asked her why is he refusing to confirm that? That refusal to answer specific questions could indicate two things: firstly, that Lewis and the PM’s media team are deliberately trying to shield the Prime Minister from the questions so she can deny responsibility for misleading answers when the full story emerges. Although Investigate specifically requested per-

38, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

sonal answers from Clark (who’s on record accusing the magazine of refusing to give her ministers the chance to comment) all of the emails have ultimately been sourced as “a spokesman for the PM”. Investigate even has a taped conversation with Lewis where we ask at one point: “Who’s this answer from, the Prime Minister?”, and Lewis replies: “A spokesman for the Prime Minister”. Investigate understands Lewis, who took over as chief press secretary after long-time staffer Mike Munro quit after the election, has previously gone out on a limb for his boss, even at the expense of his own family relationship – parliamentary insiders say Lewis took the fall for Clark over Speedogate, causing immense stress in Lewis’ personal life. By issuing vague denials in his own name, although worded as if Clark has approved them, Lewis gives Clark the chance to deny making the statements down the track. As you can see, Lewis has pointedly failed to confirm that Helen Clark has even seen Investigate’s questions about her husband, let alone approved the answers. Secondly, by refusing to answer more direct questions the PM’s Office is fuelling suspicion within the wider media that an incident has indeed taken place, and that the silence is effectively a case of ‘neither confirm nor deny’, in the hope that media interest will die down. Nor is the PM’s Office prepared to seek reports from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade or Police as to whether any assistance has had to be provided to Davis, preferring to rest instead on the “not as far as we are aware” answer – “we” being the PM’s media team. In the US political scene, such vague answers are called “plausible deniability” – they’re constructed in such a way that if the truth does emerge then people further down the food chain take responsibility. Undeterred, Investigate instead approached Auckland University seeking confirmation of Professor Davis’ travel arrangements. Ironically, the University’s PR manager Jocelyn Prasad is a former press secretary to Helen Clark. UNIVERSITY RESPONSE, Thursday,June 22, 5:08pm Dear Ian, You asked earlier today for our records on Professor Peter Davis’ travel to the US on university business. My answer follows: Academics travel overseas on university business to attend conferences, conduct research or undertake study leave. The University of Auckland does not maintain a formal record of conference attendance by academic staff. However, academics do provide written reports on their research and study leave and these are in the public domain. Professor Davis has not taken any research and study leave since joining our Department of Sociology in 2004. Regards, Jocelyn Prasad Communications Manager The University of Auckland

INVESTIGATE QUESTION, Friday, June 23, 3:13pm Hi Jocelyn, I’m sure the University knows what air travel it has booked

or paid for for Professor Davis to travel to the USA on any occasion, unless Investigate readers are being asked to assume that staff can book international travel on the University without the University ever knowing the exact dates or costs? Perhaps there are some dates that can be located by a very simple audit process of the Professor’s travel costs etc? Regards, Ian Wishart UNIVERSITY RESPONSE, Monday, June 26, 5:56pm Dear Ian, Travel is quite often paid for by conference organisers or research grants rather than the University itself. As I said earlier, our best public record of travel is our record of research and study leave but Professor Davis has had no such leave since joining the University. Regards, Jocelyn

INVESTIGATE QUESTION, Thursday, June 29, 1:46pm Hi Jocelyn, I don’t need your “best public record of travel” – any record of travel to the US during the Professor’s tenure at University of Auckland would be fine. I’m presuming that because the institution pays the Professor’s salary and has to cover for him if he is away, that records of trips to conferences or the like do exist in the University, so perhaps I could have those. Regards, Ian Wishart

nce again, there has been no response to this specific request from the University of Auckland. Regardless, a newsletter of the Sociological Association of Aotearoa, which Davis is a member of, confirms that he attended the annual conference of the American Sociological Association in Philadelphia late last year. Investigate is also still trying to discover whether Davis attended the conference of the Pacific Sociological Association in Los Angeles in late April this year. There is one final new piece of evidence to emerge in our ongoing investigation into the activities of the Prime Minister’s husband. Readers of last month’s story will recall that the Prime Minister’s Office knew Investigate was making inquiries before we’d made any phone calls in New Zealand. The PM’s office refused to disclose their source to the magazine, but under the Official Information Act the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed to Investigate a stunning piece of news: the tip off came direct to the PM’s office from Los Angeles. “On your final question, the Communications Manager [MFAT, Wellington] contacted the Prime Minister’s Office to alert them to your enquiry. We understand that prior to this, an official working at the Los Angeles Consulate-General office had also contacted the Prime Minister’s Office to alert them to your inquiry.”

The question that so far remains unanswered is “why?”. If the incident hadn’t happened – and the Los Angeles office certainly denied knowledge of it when we first rang – then why did the official immediately (as in just seconds later) ring Helen Clark’s office directly, instead of letting the information flow through normal official channels, via MFAT head office in Wellington? So far then, the facts of the story are these: June 1: A letter purporting to have originated from a former senior police officer with information from current serving officers is sent to Investigate and two major international newspapers in the US and Britain. The letter alleges an incident has taken place involving Peter Davis in San Francisco and which possibly saw him moved elsewhere in the US, before being repatriated to NZ with the assistance of NZ authorities. The letter alleges the incident was “hushed up” at the highest levels. June 6: Letter received by Investigate editorial staff, and inquiries commenced in the US. MFAT in Wellington phoned up to helpfully inform Investigate: “I am advised that the incident didn’t happen”. This was despite the fact that we had given no specifics of the incident to anyone in New Zealand, or for that matter even at our overseas embassy and consular offices. “Who advised you?”, we asked the MFAT official. “The Prime Minister’s Office.” Later that day, the PM’s Office did admit receiving a tipoff alerting them to our investigation. When pressed about the earlier denial that any incident had happened at all, David Lewis stated “We’re making inquiries to see if there’s any veracity at all to what you’re suggesting”. Yet despite “making inquiries”, the PM’s Office has apparently refused to seek confirmation from Government agencies, and appears not to have asked either the Prime Minister or her husband either. Investigate has now lodged an Official Information Act request to find out precisely what “inquiries” the PM’s Office actually did make. June 10: Investigate magazine July edition printed, breaking the initial story. Magazine not released on sale until June 15. June 12: Email received from an Auckland businessman moving in high circles. The email suggested an incident had taken place involving the Prime Minister’s husband in Los Angeles, which required the assistance of NZ police and a member of the NZ judiciary. When Investigate rang the source, he was able to provide even more specific detail about the incident, and said that a senior Judge had disclosed the information at a function days earlier. Again, the suggestion was that details had been hushed up. It was this communication that led to fresh inquiries with the PM’s Office and set off the train of evasive emails above. While the specifics of the incident itself have not yet been published by any New Zealand media organization, including Investigate, ironically it may be the cover-up and vague denials issued in the Prime Minister’s name that prove the most politically-explosive. Since the magazine broke the story, further information has come to light and is being actively pursued. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 39

for the

GREATER

GOOD

A tale of two women, their lawyer & a judge

Photographs posed by models

In an attack on the New Zealand court system, a lawyer who a judge once threatened to jail has opened fire on the courts for failing to protect two mothers. In this exclusive essay for Investigate, EVGENY ORLOV suggests psychology is useless and that many disputes could be resolved with a good old-fashioned ‘punch up’

efore I begin this rather frightening tale I would like my readers to understand my beliefs and motives in writing this story. These are the values which have guided me and the premises on which I base my tale. I am a commercial lawyer who has by a strange twist of circumstances found himself practicing in an area called human rights. I firmly believe that the respect for the rights and dignities of human beings as set out in international conventions and the principles of law of most modern countries declaring themselves to be democracies, is the only thing that stands between a civilised country and a dictatorship. My religion is human rights. It is the religion of many judges, lawyers and people around the world. It is a religion thankfully shared by the Chief Justice of this country, by the Court of Appeal and by many New Zealand judges. Also I believe in God – I believe that God is simply speaking Love. I believe a truly religious man cannot hate and therefore would protect with his life the rights and dignities of other human beings whatever their race, their religion, their colour or their culture. Throughout history (and I shall confine myself to modern history) there have been civilisations that have created legal systems that have denied the need for human rights. They have stated simply that the good of society is far more important than the freedoms of the individual. Such a society was Nazi Germany whose national socialist philosophy simply stated that “in order to keep the society happy and safe we will kill all undesirable people”. This was “the greater good”. Soviet Russia was also a socialist state modelled on the same principles. All enemies of the state were sent to concentration camps and murdered for “the greater good”. In both the above systems, the idea of human rights was a “bourgeois” concept. It was not politically correct to talk about them and lawINVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 41

yers (and judges) who attempted to defend them were gassed or killed along with their clients. However in each of these societies the legal system still functioned and overall the population thought they were happy and free. There were judges and lawyers and trials and due process and the courts were still filled with speeches on justice. There is a saying that Socrates dissatisfied is better than a thousand pigs satisfied. The Nazis and the Communists reversed this saying. It was better to sacrifice a Socrates so that the masses were happy. Indeed democratic Greece killed Socrates on the same grounds – he asked too many difficult questions and opened too many cans of worms. In the rest of this tale I shall use Socratic Method (the method of asking questions to demonstrate absurdities) and the method of a philosopher called William of Ockham (Ockham’s razor) which simply is to find the simplest explanation for a proposition by the fastest route. y tale today begins with the first woman in our story. She came from a foreign land and was invited here by a New Zealander for the purposes of marriage. She didn’t know that the New Zealander was allegedly a paedophile, had been in a mental institution for trying to murder his previous wife with a cross bow (shooting her through vital organs) had allegedly sexually molested his sister, had tortured animals – you get the picture. Before she came here she was the daughter of a military pilot and a ballet dancer. After her arrival, the paedophile threw her out in the street took her child through the court. For the past four years she has been denied by this government the right to work, the right to housing, the right to social security and her second child has been denied the right to schooling. But even more strangely her child was given to this man by CYF. Her New Zealand ex stalked her, had her visa revoked, took her child through the court and put her explicit sexual details on the internet and no one did anything to help her. He did similar things to three other foreign women. In order to feed herself and her remaining child she became a prostitute. The government also stopped her from taking her New Zealand born child back overseas. So the story continues. So when I met her she was desperate and on the verge of a nervous breakdown because her child was living with a paedophile and she could not understand how this could happen. I requested an injunction from the High Court and at the same time she took the child in breach of an existing Family Court order. CYF applied to a different judge for Habeas Corpus (which means that literally the child is unlawfully imprisoned, i.e., the order stated that the child was “imprisoned” by the mother unlawfully). Historically, Habeas Corpus was an order developed to prevent human rights abuse by the State – it was intended as an order to free people unlawfully imprisoned – but despite the evidence about the danger of child abuse the judge served this order on me. When I refused to give the Court her whereabouts he threatened to put me in prison for contempt. By virtue of the High Court order the child was returned to the father by CYF. The court in fact and CYF gave the child to a monster. In my view it was the same as giving the child to Hannibal Lecter – both these creatures had a taste for human flesh. 42, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

The Family Court later made a finding that he sexually molested her older child but had no evidence about the younger one, however the child was again removed from her by CYF and allowed to live with the paedophile’s friends and employers. The judge commented that because this woman could be sent back to her country at any time due to the kindness of the New Zealand Immigration Service, the judge would kindly remove the child and make her a ward of the court. So CYF removed the child yet again under the powers given to them by the court. Their initial reason for removing the child this time was because the house where the woman lived had an unsafe electric plug. Later the woman was told by her new lawyer that the reason all this happened was because she did not trust the New Zealand family court system and she must be seen to be cooperating. She was told to get psychotherapy and do a parenting programme as well as anger management. It appears that it is unacceptable to be angry at a man who sexually molests your children. That is not politically correct. With sufficient therapy one can grow to understand that sexual molesters are people too and can have wonderful caring relationships with their children. It is also not politically correct for me to raise these matters against a wonderful organisation like CYF. I have been advised that for “the greater good” a few bad cases are acceptable. To make an omelette one has to break eggs. CYF, I have been told, is necessary so that generally New Zealand children can be happier freer brighter and better than they are in other less civilised countries like say Singapore, Europe or, God forbid, Russia. The question is if CYF is doing such a good job and is so necessary why then do we have one of the highest rates of child abuse in the world? Why do children removed then get abused and sometimes killed in their foster families? Is the cure worse then the disease? One recent charity worker has told me that there are thousands of disturbed ex-CYF kids regularly going to the courts for rape burglary drugs and other crimes. She tells me of a story where CYF tore the child away from a young solo mother (who had nowhere to live) on the birth table, the mother not even being allowed to hold her new born child, and that child was removed to Australia and remains in the care of strangers. She tells me there are hundreds of similar stories. The first question I would ask: Is CYF really necessary for our children to be happy and are our children really happy? Is the Family Court necessary? Do anger management, parenting and other thousands of courses actually work? Has anyone provided concrete evidence that they do work? Migrants do not trust CYF because migrant children are regularly removed from their culture and placed in foster care. This is what is now happening to this woman’s child – he is removed from his language, his roots, his culture, his brother and mother, and placed in the care of a New Zealand foster family. In Nazi Germany Hitler created a social welfare organisation: they took Aryan children away from socially undesirable elements such as communists, intellectuals and free thinkers and indoctrinated them at a young age to believe in “the greater good”. The first task was to raise a puppy and then kill it with

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their bare hands. This was so that the children would not be bothered with obsolete notions such as love and family but would become normal, socially-adjusted ‘national socialists’. In the Ukraine, where our young mother hails from, there are no family courts, no CYF organisations, no governmentappointed or court-appointed psychologists and strangely enough very few paedophiles and very few mentally disturbed children. She still does not understand why poorly educated CYF workers – who describe her as a “belly dancer” when she was a ballet dancer and think Ukraine is an earthmoving appliance – are given the power to decide the fate of her child. There are many countries that function perfectly well without family courts, CYF and free psychological counselling and therapies. Their children are not less mentally healthy than ours. Indeed it can be argued they are more so. But I am not against the organisation itself or its workers, indeed many are dedicated and committed to saving children. What I am against is a systematic and endemic ignorance of human rights and a refusal to recognise wrongs when they occur. y second tale is of a New Zealand woman who has been here for three generations. She is diabetic and has a rare (or not so rare) allergy to wheat called coeliac disease. Quite simply this woman was misdiagnosed by psychologists who were “part” of the family court system. Her child was taken away from her when breast fed and for the last six years she has been denied the basic right to see her child (except once a month, supervised). For six years she has fought in the courts, saying “I am not mad. I have a house belonging to my grandfather for my daughter, I have held many responsible jobs, I have many friends, my doctors say I am perfectly sane.” But CYF psychologists don’t believe her. They think she has parenting issues. So the child remains in the care of CYF in 14 different placements. Strangely, in this case everybody agrees that the mother had never hurt the child, that the child and the mother loved each other – but the psychologists say that she is an unfit parent because she “may” have a mental illness. For arguing her case before the High Court I have been accused of being incompetent (by the same judge who put the first woman in prison) because I am too “ingenious” (the dictionary definition of ingenious is clever using new methods or ideas). Because I had the temerity, gall and outrageousness to challenge a system and to state that such a “caring” organisation as CYF could have breached someone’s human rights. I must say that I am not placing blame on the judge in question. Indeed he is a man who has been outspoken in the defence of human rights in other countries. His learning and knowledge is well respected. What he couldn’t see, and couldn’t believe, is that human rights could be and are being breached in this very country right now by an organisation supposed to protect them. He found the very idea of such a thing preposterous. It was the case of the Emperor and no clothes. New Zealanders unfortunately believe they are living in the best, freest, cleanest country. That belief is indeed in itself dangerous and makes us blind to injustice. Strangely a Family Court judge has said in relation to this second woman that his heart tells him that the child should 44, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

be returned, but the psychologists tell him otherwise so he will follow the safer course. But why and for what are such obviously illogical and nonsensical decisions upheld? Is it for the sake of the system? Each time a CYF case comes before the court a social worker gets paid, a charity organisation gets fees and donations, a lawyer is appointed “for the child” and gets paid, another lawyer represents the parents and another CYF. A psychologist is appointed by the court to assess the parties. The psychologist recommends courses and therapies and then assesses. Each case can last many years, then of course the “foster family” is paid to look after the child, some people do this as a profession. It’s interesting most New Zealanders don’t want to put their cat in a cattery but it’s perfectly acceptable to put a child in paid foster care. In some of these houses children get disciplined by being regularly hit, get fed cheap, un-nutritious food and get treated like cats in a cattery. This second woman’s child in point spend the six years of her young and fragile life in 14 different such catteries. In one of these she was beaten on the knuckles with a wooden spoon by a senile geriatric grandfather of the foster family who looked after the child because the foster parents were too busy.

“In the Ukraine, where our young mother hails from, there are no family courts, no CYF organisations, no government-appointed or court-appointed psychologists and strangely enough very few paedophiles and very few mentally disturbed children. She still does not understand why poorly educated CYF workers – who describe her as a “belly dancer” when she was a ballet dancer and think Ukraine is an earthmoving appliance – are given the power to decide the fate of her child”

So everyone is happy, everyone gets paid whatever the outcome. Everyone, that is, except the child and its biological parents. They are the small price one pays for “the public good”. Of course, the “damaged” child is then given free therapy – paid again generously by the state. I have recently read in a newspaper that New Zealanders are by their nature politically correct and believe in “the greater good”. I am to understand we as a nation are happy with the system of bureaucracies such as CYF who have ultimate power to take children away from parents for “the greater good”. Indeed psychologists who profess to “know better” make reports based on their inherent wisdom, and social workers with good intentions and for “the greater good” take children away from parents even though they love each other. After all, it appears that love and human rights are really less important than “the greater good”. This politically correct philosophy also appears to dominate the thinking of many New Zealand bureaucratic institutions such as immigration, mental health, city councils etc. Unfortunately it also dominates the thinking of the Family Court. One practitioner told me once “we don’t have human rights in the Family Court”, when I was referring to various international conventions.

In our mental health hospitals, electric shock treatment is still used by force against the wishes of the patient for the greater good. Foreign mothers of New Zealand-born babies are thrown out because they are overstayers, for “the greater good”. The psychologists tell us what to do, and the courts accept what they say. They determine in most CYF cases whether a child is removed; they have the lion’s share of the decision making process. The problem really is that psychology has still not been accepted as a science. New York State University’s Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Thomas Szasz is an implacable foe of modern psychiatry, accusing his colleagues of using “medical sounding terms” invented in the past 100 years to describe a “disease” that isn’t a real disease. In Szasz’s view, mental illness is nothing more than spiritual problems in people’s lives, that “heart break and heart attack” are two totally different concepts, one being medical and the other soul-related. In Wikipedia, Szasz is quoted as suggesting that psychiatry is nothing more than a secular-state religion masquerading as medicine, and that it has more to do with controlling people than helping them. Are we sure that psychologists really understand or can cure our minds and can decide what is best for our children? INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 45

Psychology has still been unable to understand let alone cure diseases like depression or schizophrenia. Not a single psychologist has even been able to define let alone understand how the mind works. So when we attend anger management are we really helping ourselves become more mentally healthy? If someone insults us is it not easier simply to insult them back? If someone attacks us is it not healthier simply to punch them? The second woman in this tale was told that she had psychological problems so she went on a coping course, a therapy course for “borderline personality disorder”, an anger management course, an assessment and a residential programme all paid for kindly and generously by the government for “the greater good”. The psychologists in these courses (or at least one of them – the borderline personality therapist) knew the woman had no mental problems but he could not fight the system so he told her to play along and attend whatever CYF recommended. He told CYF the child should be returned as she had no mental disorders, but they went against his opinion – he was the only expert on borderline personality disorder that they engaged yet they considered that despite his opinion she still had a borderline personality disorder or “traits” of that disorder, because other psychologists said so. And so the child remained in CYF care. The child was also advised to have psychotherapy so she could cope with losing her mother. One wonders whether psychotherapy can cure a child of the need for love. Love after all is an irrational emotion which is not for the greater good as it interferes with “adjustment”.

o to this day a woman sits alone in her house surrounded by the memories of three generations of New Zealanders and an empty room filled with toys for the daughter she loves and prays one day will be returned to her. Somewhere in the darkness her daughter sits wanting to call her mother and hear her soothing voice but prevented from contact because it interferes with “adjustment” to her new life. When they meet, the social worker sits kindly directing the mother what to say in case – God forbid – they discuss the possibility of return. That possibility must not ever be discussed – it is bad for “adjustment” and leads to expectations that can never be met. The woman has been advised to get psychotherapy to cope with the reality that she will never get her child back. Most of the lawyers she has seen have told her to get on with her life as she cannot beat the system and the system has already decided. But Love is an irrational emotion so she does not give up. In the 1950s America and New Zealand a frontal lobotomy would have been prescribed to cure her pain, today it will be antidepressants combined with psychotherapy. But her heart is filled with love and she does not wish to become comfortably numb. CYF has told the Court that the policy of permanent placement is designed to stop all contact with the biological parent. The child adjusts better this way. The psychologists have said so without any evidence of course but evidence is not necessary. But such things may never be said in a Court of Law. That is unacceptable! One must be reserved, polite, dry and without passion – that at least is the attempt to copy an English court but indeed it is a parody of English court. In order for the greater good to work properly lawyers must become like Pavlov’s experiment to create a salivating dog: they must be 46, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

“This politically correct philosophy also appears to dominate the thinking of many New Zealand bureaucratic institutions such as immigration, mental health, city councils etc. Unfortunately it also dominates the thinking of the Family Court. One practitioner told me once “we don’t have human rights in the Family Court”, when I was referring to various international conventions”

part of the technology of subservience and conformism. The system wishes family lawyers to be obedient salivating dogs so that we learn to salivate at the promise of a middle class existence. This is the reward and the stimulus for taking out the anger, the dignity, the power of the animal and turning it into a machine. To show indignity and anger at injustice is “inappropriate”. In order to practice family law the practitioner has to adjust to the reality of the system. But as one writer has said, those to blame for crimes against humanity are not the villains – but those good people that stood by in silence and watched it happen. We must not allow this as a nation. But mine is, thankfully, not the only voice of dissent. An Australian court has said that accused cannot get a fair trial here and refused to extradite on this basis. A recent New Zealand judge has commented that the New Zealand people are losing faith in the rule of law. I still have faith, indeed I know that there are many New Zealand judges who will understand that they are one of the only doorways between darkness and light and that they have been given the power to save the freedoms which we believe we all have. If these judges remain fearless in their desire to uphold the power of the light, that they will and can uphold the freedoms that New Zealanders think is their birthright, then my voice will not be a single cry in the darkness. But if not, if these judges become a minority, if they are replaced by those who are part of the system, and if eventually their voices disappear, then my battle is that of Don Quixote against windmills . And if this happens, then we must all live with the possibility that one day we will all be crushed in the wheels of the mill – “for the greater good”.

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the DUMBING-DOWN of a GENERATION INVESTIGATING THE DEPRESSION INDUSTRY

It’s like something out of Alice in Wonderland: a group of wise men band together and jointly proclaim that mental illness has a biological cause, rather than situational or emotional. Then another group of wise men announce they’ve found a cure – a new class of drugs that can make grey skies blue again in the minds of the afflicted. Together, both groups of wise men go on to make vast piles of loot as pharmacies across the world are besieged by those looking for the magical happy pills. Those pills, with names like Aropax or Prozac, are the drug of choice for 130,000 New Zealanders, but there’s growing evidence not only that the drugs don’t work, but also that the condition they’re treating – mental illness – may itself not be an illness after all. UPI’s LIDIA WASOWICZ begins this special two-part investigation

48, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

ost mental-health-care practitioners see a connection between biology and depression, but exactly what that connection is remains a matter of debate. Viewing depression as brain chemistry gone awry – which most drug treatments aim to correct – presents a puzzle with more than a few major pieces missing, critics say. Among the unknowns: Does a chemical disturbance give rise to mental illness or might it arise from an emotional tempest that could subside on its own, once the clouds part – be it through removal from an abusive situation, return to a lost relationship or some other resolution of a conflict that may be driving the sadness? Slowly, methodically, scientists are unraveling the exquisite intricacies of the brain, a unit of some 100 billion nerve cells that, together, form the most complex and highly organized structure on earth. They are still a long way from understanding the half of it. And is it any wonder? In addition to serving as overseer of the body’s daily operations, integrator of the multitude of its systems and processor and interpreter of continuous streams of incoming information, the brain endows each personality with its own uniquely human feelings, emotions, thoughts, memories and talents. It does so through the use of chemical neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which transfer electrical impulses from one neuron, or nerve cell, to another. Until scientists have a firmer grasp on what constitutes normalcy in this extraordinary maze of functions, definitions of abnormalities and their source will remain open to debate, researchers say. For now, the prevailing – though not universal – view of the foundations of depression implicates inheritance, although specific genes for the disorder have yet to be pinpointed; INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 49

biology, primarily of brain cell communicators and the chemicals within them, and environment, replete with emotiontugging traps. Anti-depressant medications target the disorder’s assumed biological underpinnings. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, for example, act to stop the breakdown of serotonin, increasing its level and thus presumably helping the brain communicate pain signals or emotions. “The agency regulating truth in advertising in the United Kingdom will not permit pharmaceutical companies to imply that depression is caused by a biochemical disorder; it is not considered to be proven,” says Diane Kern, a clinician for more than 20 years who has launched a network of psychotherapy centers in California dedicated to treating psychiatric disorders without medication. “You will note that ads for (the anti-depressant) Zoloff in the United States carefully state that depression ‘may be’ caused by a biochemical disorder,” she says. “They cannot claim that it is.” The concept of depression as a definitive disorder did not exist prior to 1900. Rather, melancholia was thought to be a variation of a neurotic state. The first book on the syndrome of depression, Recognizing the Depressed Patient, by psychiatrist Frank Ayd, was published in 1961.

y some accounts, the pharmaceutical giant Merck and Company, Inc., which had just been awarded a patent on the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline, bought 50,000 copies of the book for worldwide distribution – presumably to strengthen the case for the existence of the disorder its new drug was to treat. Some observers contend it was as much a selling of the drug as of the idea of the illness called depression. Since then, the notion of the nature of the disorder has evolved as science has begun to unravel the complex mysteries of the way the brain works. The idea of a chemical imbalance as the source of deep distress remains a theory, and a contested one at that, researchers say. The details of why the pharmacological action of a drug like Prozac can improve a person’s mood and sense of wellbeing remain obscured by uncertainty. “The general consensus is that the medications act by increasing neurotransmitters in the brain, and this has the effect of reducing symptoms,” says child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. David Fassler, a trustee of the American Psychiatric Association. The multi-purpose neurotransmitters, essential for normal brain function, have a hand in controlling mood as well as such basics of human life as eating, sleep, pain and thinking. Some studies have implicated norepinephrine, or noradrenaline, and dopamine, in anxiety or depression, and some of the newer meds target these. More often, the brunt of culpability is placed on a shortage of serotonin in the synapses, or specialized junctions, between nerve cells in the brain. Hence, the SSRIs – which block the reabsorption of serotonin by the brain cells that released it, allowing accumulation of the neurochemical that affects emotions, behavior and thought – enjoy most-favored status among physicians who choose to treat depression with medication. When they prescribe anti-depressants, doctors are acting on the idea of depression as a disorder with somatic underpinnings 50, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

– akin to using insulin in diabetes, antibiotics in infectious disease or chemotherapy in cancer. If this is an ailment that devastates its targets from a biological basis, it seems logical to attack it with biological weapons, they reason. This scenario, however, is not to everyone’s scientific liking. One group, for instance, contends anti-depressants not so much cure as create altered brain states. Discounting what they deem as an ill-supported disease-based model that assumes psychotropic drugs act on the disorder’s neurobiology, the analysts rather favour a drug-centered proposition which suggests that instead of relieving a hypothetical biochemical abnormality, drugs themselves cause abnormal states, which may coincidentally relieve psychiatric symptoms. For example, they note, just because alcohol loosens inhibitions, thereby shedding the key symptoms of social phobia, does not mean that it corrects a chemical imbalance thought to underlie the condition marked by anxiety about and aversion to public encounters. A drug-centered model suggests that drug effects cannot easily be parceled into ‘therapeutic’ and ‘adverse’ effects, since the same effect may have desirable and undesirable implications, the authors argue. Increased passivity shown by a child on stimulants might help in a structured classroom but not in a summer camp. Taking a drug-centered approach to the treatment of depression, we would conclude that no presently known effects of any drugs, including antidepressants, are likely to do more good than harm in the long term, they contend. No evidence shows that antidepressants or any other drugs produce long-term elevation of mood or other effects that are particularly useful in treating depression. A consensus on what underlies the disorder and how best to attack it likely won’t emerge until scientists come up with a more foolproof test for depression than the series of questions that now serve as a diagnostic mainstay, researchers say. However, most agree that day lies beyond the immediate future. THE SEROTONIN QUESTION Despite what advertisements for some medications may imply, the role of the brain chemical serotonin in depression is far from settled. “(T)here is not a single peer-reviewed article ... to directly support claims of serotonin deficiency in any mental disorder,” two Florida researchers wrote in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS Medicine, published by the nonprofit Public Library of Science. “The sometimes transforming effects of medications like the newer class of anti-depressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors do not necessarily prove serotonin’s part in depression – or even that it has one,” they argued. “The fact that aspirin cures headaches does not prove that headaches are due to low levels of aspirin in the brain,” the scientists noted in their provocative critique of advertising claims linking depression to a serotonin imbalance that the SSRIs work to correct. “The validity of this reasoning becomes even more unlikely when one considers recent studies that even call into question the very efficacy of the SSRIs,” they say. Among the findings: buproprion and reboxetine were as effective as SSRIs in the treatment of depression, yet neither

“The agency regulating truth in advertising in the United Kingdom will not permit pharmaceutical companies to imply that depression is caused by a biochemical disorder; it is not considered to be proven”

affects serotonin to any significant degree. In another study, the herbal remedy St. John’s wort outperformed the drugs in some cases of mild to moderate depression. Investigators using brain scans have even documented the same neurological changes in patients treated with psychotherapy as in those taking Prozac, Paxil (Aropax) and other antidepressants to which the brain alterations had been attributed, the scientists say. Blaming depression on a chemical imbalance seems premature, considering scientists have yet to define what constitutes normal brain chemistry, critics contend. “(T)here is no scientifically established ideal ‘chemical balance’ of serotonin, let alone an identifiable pathological imbalance,” the researchers say. SSRI skeptics see the serotonin-imbalance theory as little more than a marketing tool for the drug companies. The push for an exclusively biochemical basis to depression, or any mental illness for that matter, drives the belief in and

search for a marketable magic bullet that can eliminate the source of suffering, they say. If that source stretches into other realms, those expectations and efforts will have to be extended beyond pharmaceutical solutions, the critics note. “Before treating the epidemic of depression as strictly a problem of brain chemistry, we need to explore social and ecological causes as well,” says Eileen Crist, associate professor of science and technology in society at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. It is only from the roots of a problem that the optimal remedies can sprout. Hence, the search for depression’s causes and the hunt for its cure become indelibly intertwined. Puzzling out the jigsaw takes twists and turns as scientific methods and mindsets mature. Spurred by advances in technologies and techniques in the lab and field, fresh clues are popping up, enlarging and often realigning the emerging picture of the demons driving depression. Two INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 51

recent studies, for example, cast the brain chemical dopamine in an off-character role. The neurotransmitter – whose levels surge under the influence of cocaine, amphetamines and other addictive substances – has long been associated with pleasurable sensations, such as the highs drug abusers find so irresistible. However, the research suggests it can also have the opposite effect, raising the risk of depression – at least in laboratory mice. Whereas a quick fix can boost mood, prolonged exposure to high concentrations of dopamine plunged the rodents into despair, the researchers found. If corroborated, and translated to humans, the mouse results may lead to new and improved alternatives to the current crop of medications – including the popular SSRIs – which act primarily on brain chemicals other than dopamine, the researchers say. Though they can produce dramatic turnarounds in some patients, the drugs kick in only after a delay of as long as 12 weeks – or even not at all – in a large number of users, so additional options would be welcome, the study authors say. Their assessment of current medications got a corroborative lift from a comprehensive review of all published and unpublished clinical trials of anti-depressants submitted to the Food and Drug Administration by pharmaceutical companies for drug approval. The verdict: On average, about 80 percent of the medicines’ effect could be duplicated with a sugar pill.

n addition, more than half, or some 57 percent, of the industry-funded tests failed to show significant benefits of antidepressants over the inactive placebo against which they were measured, the study authors says. Those who question the validity of the findings deem the results misleading in that rather than being severely depressed, the typical study participant had a milder form of distress that was more likely to resolve on its own or with the help of nondrug therapies. The gap between medication and placebo would widen if antidepressant trials examined severe cases of depression exclusively, the argument goes. Point well taken. However, critics say it overlooks clinical practice, where the medications aren’t just for the most anguished any more – their broader distribution in fact being decried by some as overly lax. Other comparative analyses turned up no major difference in effectiveness between SSRIs and the older, riskier tricyclic antidepressants. Around since the 1950s, they were largely replaced amid great fanfare a decade ago. ANTIDEPRESSANTS AND CHILDREN Prior to 1996, the tricyclics – which themselves had filled the void left with the safety-related withdrawal of the energy- and moodelevating antitubercular agent iproniazid – were the medication of choice for children and adolescents with major depression. That choice, based on adult studies, did not prove a sound one. In 13 separate trials, the drugs – which slow the breakdown of the serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmitters that help relay messages about pain and emotion – failed to make much of a difference in curbing signs of depression in the younger age groups, researchers reported. At the same time, their potentially toxic effects and risks of death from an overdose made them even less suitable for pediatric

52, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

patients. The current consensus advises against the use of tricyclics – which can trigger constipation, blurred vision, irregular heart rates, low blood pressure and cardiac damage, among numerous severe side effects – for depression in the under-18 set. With the older tricyclic anti-depressants generally deemed unsuitable for the young and depressed, treatment of this age group most often relies on the so-called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Of this class, Prozac is the only drug approved for such use. Because they specifically target the brain levels of the feelgood neurochemical serotonin, SSRIs present fewer side effects than their predecessors – though not few enough to satisfy their critics. Widely touted as safer than the tricyclics that came before them, SSRIs are less likely to prove lethal even in large quantities, doctors say. The downside is that, with decreased worry of a fatal overdose, the risk of overuse rises while attention to monitoring declines, critics say. A Food and Drug Administration warning, in fact, calls for minimizing the dosage to lessen the risk of an overdose and maximizing follow-up of young patients to lower the odds of unwanted consequences. “SSRIs are overprescribed because they were believed to be safe and the drug companies do such an incredibly effective marketing job,” says Peter Goldenthal, US pediatric and family psychologist. “I see a lot of really young children who someone else would encourage prescribing drugs for; when you take the sweet young children off the medication, it’s clear it’s not doing anything,” he says. “I also see adolescents who, without medication, would be in deep trouble,” he adds. “For a 17-year-old, who is close to being an adult and who really has bipolar disorder and not the diagnosis de jour, it can be lifesaving.” But only if the medicine is properly applied and the patient adequately supervised, doctors say. “With SSRIs, it’s easy to write a prescription and say, ‘Come back in three months’,” says Donna Palumbo, associate professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, N.Y. “The temptation is all the greater for time-pressed primarycare providers who now see the majority of depressed patients. But specialists know that’s not how to treat depression,” she says. “Patients change moment to moment, whether they’re on medication or not.” This scenario sets the stage for a raised risk of suicide, cautions Dr. Julio Licinio of the University of California, Los Angeles, whose study tracked an overall decline in suicide rates since the SSRIs came on the market scene. “When people start antidepressant therapy, the first symptom to be alleviated is low energy, but the feeling that life isn’t worth living is the last to go,” he says. “Prior to taking SSRIs, depressed people may not have committed suicide due to their extreme lethargy,” he says, explaining one commonly held theory. “As they begin drug therapy, they experience more energy, but still feel that life isn’t worth living. That’s when a depressed person is most in danger of committing suicide.” Although the increased possibility of suicidal tendencies

“The fact that aspirin cures headaches does not prove that headaches are due to low levels of aspirin in the brain” has attracted the most public attention, it applies to only a small minority of antidepressant users. Greater numbers may be prone to suffering other ill effects from the drugs, which, despite their reputation of superior safety, do not come riskfree, researchers say. A two-year review of the medical records of 82 children and adolescents treated with an SSRI at Massachusetts General Hospital for depressive or obsessive-compulsive disorders found 22 percent experienced psychiatric adverse effects, most commonly related to disturbances in mood, within three months of treatment. The rate went up to 44 percent for those who restarted taking the drugs. Overall, 74 percent of the young patients had an adverse reaction to an SSRI over the course of their therapy, the authors reported. Other research indicates some 60 percent of minors can ben-

efit from antidepressants without suffering serious complications, although there is debate over how much of the gain might be attributable to the placebo effect that could just as easily be obtained with a sugar pill or simply to time’s healing touch. “Most children get better anyway for other reasons,” says Michael Conner, a clinical psychologist, researcher, director of the nonprofit Mentor Research Institute and author of Crisis Intervention with Adolescents; A Guide for Parents and Professionals, (AuthorHouse, 2006). “The results are often ‘lumped together,’ which makes the benefits of antidepressants look better than they actually are.” Whatever the true source of relief, a finding that some 60 percent of children taking antidepressants improve with few or no side effects presumably suggests the other 40 or so percent INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 53

gain no advantage from the drugs or do so at a cost. Temporary and/or mild side effects may include insomnia, rashes, headaches, joint and muscle pain, stomach upset, nausea or diarrhea, doctors say. A more serious potential complication presents itself when reduced blood clotting capacity opens the way for stomach or uterine bleeding – a risk that doubles when SSRIs are mixed with certain painkillers, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen or COX-2 inhibitors, research indicates. “Most children have mild side effects managed by modifying the dosage, some may get sleepy or nauseous, some children may get agitated, but in general the medications are well tolerated,” says child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. David Fassler, a trustee of the American Psychiatric Association. In genetically predisposed children, the drugs may raise the risk of mania or its less severe version, hypomania, according to one study. A 14-month Yale University investigation found 8 percent of patients admitted to the Massachusetts General Hospital psychiatric unit in 2001 may have been suffering from mania or psychosis brought on by their antidepressant treatment. Applied nationally, that would translate to some 150,000 possibly SSRI-induced hospital admissions a year, researchers says. News reporters, bloggers and defense lawyers have made much of the possibility SSRIs may at times trigger deranged mental states conducive to murder or other acts of violence.

review in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry Law pointed out it is difficult to dismiss the anecdotal reports out of hand, but convincing scientific evidence supporting – or negating – such a connection is scanty. Use of the involuntary intoxication defense will likely continue to grow alongside development and marketing of novel psychotropic medications and advancement in understanding of their actions and effects, the authors predict. Most SSRI users do not experience severe side effects, Licinio stresses. “My concern is if you list every possible side effect, people will say, ‘I’ll have all of these? Then, I shouldn’t take it’,” he says. PRE-SCHOOLERS ON PROZAC The use of psychiatric pharmaceuticals in the very young is on the rise – along with worries and concerns over its causes and consequences. Recent studies show, for example, the rate of preschoolers prescribed psychotropic medication tripled between 1990 and 1995. During the period, orders for mind-altering drugs for tots ages 2 to 4 jumped by 500 percent, according to research led by child psychiatrist Dr. Helen Egger, assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, whose investigations have been funded in part by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. A similar pattern emerged in a study of 2 million insured youngsters that found a 10 percent annual rise between 1998 and 2002 in anti-depressant use in children under 18 – including of drugs not certified for minors. Over the five years, the largest jump was for preschoolers 5 and younger, with the rate doubling for girls and going up 64 percent for boys. Overall in this demographic, use of psychiatric pharmaceuti-

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cals jumped 49 percent, from 1.6 percent in 1998 to 2.4 percent in 2002, increasing twice as fast for girls as for boys, researchers say. The newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants topped the drug popularity list. The rates of anti-depressant use have started to dip since the drugs’ labels were affixed in 2004 with the strongest possible warnings of their potential for increasing suicidal thoughts and behaviors in some takers, but it is not yet clear whether the decline portends a long-term trend. In the five years under study, Paroxetine, the generic name for Aropax/Paxil, saw a 113-percent boost in use among girls and 91 percent among boys, scientists say. That’s despite a Food and Drug Administration recommendation that the medicine be kept out of children’s hands because its safety and effectiveness in this population have not been established and because it has been linked to increased risk of suicidal tendencies and attempts in some users. The study results reflect booming rates of depression in youth, greater awareness of and screening for the disorder and assumptions that what works for adults should do the same in their underage counterparts, say the authors of an analysis published in Psychiatric Services. They offered two ways to interpret the findings: efforts to identify and treat depressed youth are paying off – or children are being prescribed medications before it’s been determined whether they will hurt or harm them. “We’ve seen increased rates of psychotropic drugs prescribed to preschoolers, and we can wonder, ‘What diagnostic criteria are they using?” Egger says. Her preferred treatment for this age group is parent training, a technique aimed at helping caretakers learn ways to manage and support the child. But there’s also another aspect to the story. It’s highlighting the fact that there are people whose children are in distress, Egger adds. “We need to have better ways to diagnose these problems and treat them, but we also need to acknowledge there is a problem out there.“ She hopes to get a better idea of just how big a problem and how best to deal with it during a four-year follow-up of 307 children she and colleagues have been observing since their preschool days. The investigation, funded by a grant from the McCarthy Foundation, will see the youngsters through the pre-puberty stage. “My goal is not to label children. My work is not to put all these children on meds,” Egger says. “My goal is to find out whether we can do something early so that we can help forestall the kind of distress we’re seeing. Maybe a less intrusive treatment can have a greater effect at an earlier age. There’s a need now to determine how we are going to thoughtfully, carefully, empirically figure out how to best help these children and their families. It will be science that will tell the story.” NEXT MONTH IN PART TWO: DARK ANGELS – WHY ARE KIDS GETTING DEPRESSED? Editors’ Note: This series on depression is based on a review of hundreds of reports and a survey of more than 200 specialists.

Experts involved in mental illness ‘bible’ linked to drug companies By Judith Graham

ost of the experts who prepared the world’s leading medical guide to mental illness had undisclosed financial relationships with drug companies that presented potential conflicts of interest, according to a report published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics earlier this year. The study is the first to document extensive monetary connections between drug companies, psychiatrists and other scientists responsible for the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The DSM, as it’s commonly called, defines all the mental illnesses recognized by psychiatry and outlines the criteria used to determine whether a person has one of these conditions. Medical professionals refer to it as the “bible of mental health” in the U.S. The current version, the DSM-IV, was published in 1994 and modified in 2000. The manual is of enormous importance to pharmaceutical firms, as the Food and Drug Administration will not approve a drug to treat a mental illness unless the condition is in the DSM. Drug companies then can market approved medications to physicians and consumers. And the broader the criteria for a disorder, the more people who might be considered candidates for treatment. “This is one of the most important medical documents we have in this country, yet the public doesn’t have relevant information about the experts involved in developing and revising it,” says Sheldon Krimsky, a Tufts University professor and co-author of the new paper. His study found that 56 percent of 170 panel members responsible for overseeing the DSM-IV had some type of financial tie to the drug industry - including getting research grants from drug companies (42 percent), serving as consultants (22 percent) and participating in speakers bureaus (16 percent). These relationships weren’t revealed publicly. The risk is that financial relationships might directly or indirectly bias panel members to make decisions favorable to the drug industry. Relationships formed after the DSM-IV’s publication also can be problematic in that panel members could appear to be “cashing in” on their influence, Krimsky notes. The enormous growth in prescriptions for psychiatric drugs also raises concerns about the potential impact on consumers. “If a medication is strong enough to have a beneficial effect, it’s powerful enough to have a toxic effect as well, and we should care about how these drugs are prescribed,” says Dr. Drummond Rennie, deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Of particular concern, Krimsky suggests, is his study’s finding that 100 percent of the experts on DSM-IV panels overseeing mood disorders and schizophrenia/psychotic disorders were financially involved with the drug industry” Dr. Darrel Regier, director of research at the American Psychiatric Association, says disclosure of potential conflicts of interest “wasn’t the standard in the field” at the time the latest edition came out. “For the next revision,” due in 2011, “we will have full disclosure,” he promises. Of particular concern, Krimsky suggests, is his study’s finding that 100 percent of the experts on DSM-IV panels overseeing mood disorders and schizophrenia/psychotic disorders were financially involved with the drug industry. These are the largest categories of psychiatric drugs in the world, racking up 2004 sales of $20.3 billion and $14.4 billion respectively. Depression is the leading mood disorder. “The more lucrative the drug market, the higher the percentage of experts with financial ties - that has to raise serious questions about these panels’ objectivity,” says David Rothman, professor of social medicine at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. “We have not had an opportunity to review the study, but it is important to note that the physicians and other health-care professionals who sat on expert medical advisory panels have impeccable integrity,” says Ken Johnson, senior vice president for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Others think drug industry practices are challenging the integrity of science. “The very vocabulary of psychiatry is now defined at all levels by the pharmaceutical industry,” says Dr. Irwin Savodnik, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles. According to his calculations, the original 1952 DSM manual contained 107 mental health disorders. By the fourth edition in 1994, the number had more than tripled to 365. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 55

WORLDBRIEF

INSIDE GITMO THE INTERVIEW THAT COST A COMMANDER DEARLY

The day a group of prisoners committed suicide at the notorious Guantanamo Bay facility, the camp commander was hosting a visiting journalist. This is MICHAEL GORDON’S exclusive report from inside America’s version of Stalag 13

UANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – Deep inside the wire, Colonel Mike Bumgarner* sounds as if he thinks control of his prison has slipped away. Three suicides had just rocked Camp Delta. More nooses have been found in his prison. Bumgarner orders a higher alert. All this must stop, he says. He’s asked his staff to break into red team/black team. One group tries to anticipate the detainees’ next move, the other tries to counter it. “I need the red people checking for me on what the hell is next,” he tells the room. “I can do some of that. But I’m not real good. I need your help.” Later, one of his behaviour specialists begins to make a point. “Sir, I’m sure you have this under control . . .” “Trust me,” Bumgarner interrupts. “We do not have this under *Bumgarner’s tour of duty at Gitmo officially ended June 30

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control. If we did, none of this would ever have happened.” He believes he is protecting the world from depraved and In a traditionally closed military society, Bumgarner is an open dangerous men who challenge his leadership, discipline and book. In the hours after the recent suicides, when some of his values. He also must keep them alive. superiors wanted to close ranks, the North Carolina native kept a Yet because of reports of past abuse and the Bush administrapromise to throw open the doors on himself and his command. tion’s refusal to try the detainees in U.S. courts, he knows part But he also may have jeopardized his career. of the world sees him as a war criminal, and that even a growing Ask Mike Bumgarner about the best year of his life, and he number of Americans oppose the very mission he holds so dear. flashes back to Kings Mountain in the Carolinas. He was a “He’s protecting a way of life that only exists in our minds,” sophomore just hoping to make the team when he beat out a says attorney Jeff Davis, a Marine Vietnam veteran who represenior to start at quarterback. sented one of the three dead detainees. “He’s protecting someHe worked hard. He called his own plays. He had a knack of thing that we used to have that we’ve allowed the government anticipating his opponent’s next move. to take away.” But that was high school football. Bumgarner believes the government’s decision to house prisThis is Guantanamo Bay. oners here is not his fight. He has a prison to run, and he swears Here, at America’s most controversial beachfront in the War he does it safely, humanely and openly. on Terror, Bumgarner has learned that he has no playbook to Take a look, he tells prison visitors ranging from Sen. Ted study and he’s not universally cheered. Kennedy to Bill O’Reilly. We have nothing to hide. He despises the American atrocities at Abu Ghraib. He is “I’m not the enemy,” he says he tells them. “At some point embarrassed by reports of similar activity at Camp Delta before you just have to trust me.” he arrived in April 2005. Kennedy’s visit worried, even scared, Bumgarner. GOP Sen. He believes leadership relies not on rules but core values. So Arlen Specter grilled him for five hours. he insists his guards see their prisoners as human beings. He “Once they see what we do, and the intelligence we have on says he has helped improve conditions – more clothes, better these people, you can literally see a change, in their tone of food. He had made the prison more culturally sensitive. voice, in their body language,” he says. All he wanted in return was the detainees’ respect, a little Republican Senator Lindsey Graham blames interrogatrust, anything to build on. tion abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons on legal Instead, he says, he and his troops face a daily jihad. shortcuts taken by the Justice Department to aid the War on On May 18, prisoners staged one of the most violent proTerrorism. He says Camp Delta, with its Honor Bound motto, tests in the 4 years it’s served as a prison. Inmates faked a suiis back on the right path. cide attempt and lured guards into the prison’s communal “(It) speaks to the spirit of those who work under the colonel – area, Camp 4, where they gather. There, the prisoners used fan from the guards to the interrogators. I’m proud of all of them.” blades and other weapons they’d made to attack the guards, “Gate open,” a voice calls out. A key goes in a lock. A heavy who fired rubber bullets. metal door swings wide to reveal unsmiling guards in camouBumgarner later told Fox talk show host Bill O’Reilly: “I flage. The door closes, a key turns. “Gate locked.” The sentries trusted them too much. The fans – I should have never let fans snap off salutes to a superior officer. in that room. Why I ever allowed that to happen, I don’t know “Honour bound, sir.” . . . I was being too nice.” “Honour bound, soldier.” This year, Bumgarner and his guards have been accused in The camp slogan is “Honour Bound to Defend Freedom.” federal court of using “extremely painful” techniques to end How Bumgarner loves it, loves the work, loves the 1,000 solhunger strikes. They involve strapping detainees in a chair “On May 18, prisoners staged one of the most violent profor two hours and feeding tests in the 4 years it’s served as a prison. Inmates faked a them through a tube in their suicide attempt and lured guards into the prison’s communoses. Bumgarner and his medical nal area, Camp 4, where they gather. There, the prisoners director say the techniques are used on prisoners who have used fan blades and other weapons they’d made to attack endangered their health. The the guards, who fired rubber bullets” colonel says guards use the chair to restrain patients. Doctors then use feeding techniques diers and sailors under his command. found in most American hospitals, the medical director says. He also admits loving a spotlight that hasn’t burned so Suicide attempts have been climbing – 41 attempts by 25 difbrightly since high school. ferent prisoners. One inmate has tried to kill himself 12 times. He never saw himself in a uniform – not after that one year Prison critics say these are acts of desperation. at West Point when a bigger world taught him the true meanBumgarner calls them acts of terrorism. ing of lowly. He tells of one prisoner defecating in his hand, then slamHe found himself doing calculus homework weeks before ming it into the face of a guard as she tried to feed him. classes even started. He barely had time to call his girlfriend, He describes the No. 4 cocktails – a combination of urine, much less see her. And everywhere he turned, he collided with feces, semen and spit – that regularly come flying. some rule. INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 57

So he left. He’s not proud of it. Back home in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, he remembers his late father, got straight to point. “You just threw away a $100,000 education. You got a plan?” He thought he did: as a football player at Western Carolina. But then the NCAA told him he’d have to wait a year to play. There went his scholarship. There went his plan. He joined Western Carolina University’s ROTC (rostered officer training corps) to get tuition. He studied criminal justice and dreamed of being a Secret Service agent or a football coach. Instead he became a military policeman. He married the only girl he ever dated. They’ve had two sons. A quarter century of Army towns and steady promotions flew by. “Every year I’ve been in the Army is the year I was getting out,” he says, “All I wanted was to get back to North Carolina and be a cop.” And then it’s April 5, 2005. Bumgarner gets a call from Gen. Rod Johnson. He accepted Guantanamo Bay on the spot. Only later did he talk to his wife. He thought the job would be easy given all the prison manpower he would wield. He laughs about that now. Almost immediately, he found himself working 100-hour weeks. He’s put on 30 pounds. With Abu Ghraib as impetus, he began showing up on cellblocks at all hours, making sure his guards were in control of themselves as well as the prisoners. Before they knew his name, the detainees called him “the man with the bird on his shoulder.” But from the beginning, he says, they fought him. Hunger strikes flared up and grew by the day. No matter how much better he made the conditions, he felt his prison kept getting hammered in the press. He got a phone call. It was the older of his boys, the one that most closely shares his father’s reverence for honour and duty. “Dad,” he asked, “what are you doing down there?” Bumgarner was stunned. “For him to challenge me and question whether I was doing anything to compromise my integrity and his, well it hurt me very deeply.” The command that once seemed so easy was well on its way to becoming the hardest thing he ever loved. Just after midnight on June 10, guards in the prison’s Camp I radioed “blizzard”, code for concurrent suicide attempts. Three detainees had hanged themselves in their cells, ripping apart the extra clothing and bedding handed out by the prison to form nooses and ropes. Later, Bumgarner says he was angry his generosity was used against him. While the Pentagon tried to lock off the military base that day, Bumgarner opened Camp Delta to two Charlotte Observer journalists who flew in the same day of the suicides to do a long-scheduled story on the colonel. For the next two days Bumgarner welcomed the pair in his war room as he and his staff discussed ways to make sure more suicides didn’t take place. As he took steps to tighten Camp Delta security, he seemed to enjoy having non-military folks around. He spoke candidly – sometimes outrageously so – about his relationship with the detainees, “the brothers” as he calls them. “They’re nothing short of a damn animal that can’t be trusted,” he says at one point. Later, as the faces and numbers of detainees flash on the screen, he metes out punishment like a judge. 58, INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006

One detainee has thrown his food. Food loaf for 48 hours, Bumgarner orders. Another had fought guards over his clothes. Put him in a smock, the colonel fires back. To prevent more suicides, he tells his staff: “I want you to keep an eye on the weak-willed folks because life in the camps is going to suck awhile.” Bumgarner did not mourn the three deaths. But he expressed deep disappointment that he had failed to keep them alive. “I never thought anyone would die here,” he says. Bumgarner joined his visitors for the last time at lunch on Tuesday. He and his senior staff talked about NASCAR, the colonel’s Sunday night management training, which involved nothing more than potluck and “The Sopranos,” and his upcoming appearance with Bill O’Reilly. He looked like he needed sleep. Then, the 6 foot 2, 120-kg Bumgarner put a massive fried pork chop on his plate between two pieces of bread and raised it to his mouth. “In honour of our three dead brothers,” he says, before taking a resounding bite. Bumgarner worships Ronald Reagan, who the Secret Service knew as “Rawhide.” Here in Camp Delta, Bumgarner goes by the same name. Like the late president, he clearly likes attention. “Maybe it’s like football or a part of my ego, but I get treated differently here,” Bumgarner says. “The negative: Everything you do is under scrutiny.” He realizes he’s much more talkative than many of his peers. He says he has regular run-ins with the military censors. He feels he’s taken some hits from the media but says he tries to stay “open and proud.” When he wants out of the spotlight, he heads to “O.P. (short for observation point) Rawhide,” an old wooden guard tower not far from his office. It’s 20 rungs to the top and the colonel hates heights, but it puts him above the prison wire, gives him some quiet, a breeze and a place to think. First, the sense of failure surrounding the detainees’ deaths must burn itself out. “You know that the Jack Nicholson movie (“A Few Good Men”) is right – nobody wants to know what we’re doing here. It’s not pleasant. It’s just what we have to do.” For 14 months Mike Bumgarner says he has done all he could to live up to the Camp Delta creed. One morning changed everything. He feels as if he’s fallen short. Has it ended his career, he’s asked? “We’ll see,” he says. Tuesday night, while packing to leave Guantanamo Bay, I called Bumgarner’s cell phone to say goodbye. A strange voice answered, I thought I dialed a wrong number, so I hung up. A few moments later, my phone rang. It was Navy Captselect Katie Hampf, Bumgarner’s second-in-command. She now had Bumgarner’s phone, she explained, because she was acting prison commander. She wouldn’t say any more. The Pentagon would not talk about Bumgarner’s status. A spokesman says Bumgarner’s decision to allow us to listen in on staff meetings and observe other activities inside the prison “adds to an already complex and difficult situation.”

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www.niueisland.com INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 59

thinkLIFE money

Thunder road

Forget Islam and global warming, the West is already facing financial chaos, writes Peter Hensley

n the early 1990’s Harry S Dent predicted that the US share market would soar to incredible heights. And it did, to almost 12,000 in March 2000. He based his prediction on a single premise. He published his first book in 1993, and it was titled The Great Boom Ahead. Towards the end of the 1990’s the markets were going off like there was no tomorrow and he was in great demand as a speaker. His message was simple, the markets were going north and everyone should go along for the ride. In early 2000 his rising star turned into a shooting star. His predictions were proven to be incorrect. His research suggested that the Dow Jones Index (a collective measure for the largest 30 companies listed on the US share market) would reach 32,000. His book and papers had generation waves, birth waves, innovation waves, spending waves and organisation waves not to mention S waves. His research was able to justify and explain how the roaring 1920’s and the subsequent great depression of the 1930’s occurred. He

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used it to prescribe and describe the rise and fall of the share market over the subsequent 70 years. He based his research premise on the single concept that an individual spends the most money in their life-time between the ages of 44 and 46. He charted this age/spending wave for the past century, adjusted it for immigration; he then charted the Dow Jones share market index, adjusted that for inflation. It looked for all intents and purposes a match made in heaven. The chart Harry produced in the early nineties suggested that the share market would reach a high of almost 32,000 around 2007. With the market retreat at the start of the century Harry’s speaking engagements slowed considerably. History shows that the US stock market pulled up well short of his prediction of 32,000 and barely reached 12,000. He has since persevered in his work and has kept issuing new revised predictions, the latest being 40,000 by 2010. Dent gives new meaning to the saying: “Statistics, when tortured sufficiently will confess to anything”.

A decade after Dent published his first work, an obvious Dent devotee, Daniel Arnold, has published his own work titled The Great Bust Ahead. At just 55 pages, it is hardly in the same league as Dent’s earlier work of almost 300 pages. Arnold’s work is impressive. He has taken Dent’s premise and has remained faithful to the master. The book is easy to read and he has resolutely remained focused on the issue at hand. The introduction opens as follows: “The entire purpose of this brief book is to warn and help prepare the average person, family, business and institution for the greatest economic event of our lives that is now steadily closing in on us. It is a once in a lifetime event, so there is little national memory that such an event is possible. We are now just several years away from the greatest depression in American history. It will be several times greater than the 1930’s. No maybe or perhaps. It is as unavoidable as it is certain.” Those words sort of grab your attention. Arnold’s first chapter outlines Dent’s

work and summaries the theory behind the spending wave. The GDP of a country is largely based upon consumer consumption. Depending upon who is telling the story the percentage can be as high as 75%. This means that when Joe & Jane Average shop for their weekly groceries they are contributing to their country’s GDP. GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product and is a combination of three market components. Firstly consumerism, secondly business spending and thirdly Government expenditure. University and Governments have been collecting data on punters spending habits for generations. This topic has been widely researched and the results are not startling. The highest spending age band has been shown to be between 45 and 54 years of age. Arnold has analysed the birth & death register for the USA and folded in known immigration figures. In adjusting the age bands for immigration, Arnold believes that widely quoted figures of 75 million baby boomers have been understated by a third. His figures suggest that the real figure is closer to 100 million baby boomers who will be reach-

ing retirement at approximately the same time. The economic implications of this, he believes, are staggering. The charts in his book are simple and relatively easy to follow. He builds his argument in small steps, justifying each stage with ample explanation. The corresponding charts and graphs grow accordingly. His research takes into account wars and contraception. He starts with Dent’s concept of the middle aged spending wave, he then dissects it and proceeds to take it to a whole new level. As indicated his work is impressive and his explanations are easy to follow. The book is short and to the point. Without tripping Mr Arnold up on the detail the message is powerful and should not be dismissed out of hand. As outlined in previous essays, share markets have operated for a long time and the history they have generated provides us with some extra information that Mr Arnold has elected not to take into account. His suggestion that markets will rise for the next six odd years is based solely on his generational wave concept and ignores historic share market valua-

tions. The US market is overvalued and has been for the past decade. It has moved sideways for the past five years. To suggest that the Dow Jones index could now double in the next six years is almost incomprehensible. It does not mean that it could not happen, just that it stretches the imagination to the extreme. Mr Arnold has also elected to ignore the indebtedness of the US. The US Government is in debt and the average US citizen is in debt to levels never previously experienced. It relies on the kindness of strangers to fund their extravagant lifestyles. The high correlation between both Dent’s and Arnold’s inter-generational spending wave and the share market is impressive, however the saying that statistics will confess to anything if they are tortured enough should be heeded. The data collected by Mr Arnold is irrefutable, yet his warning should be blended and mixed with other known facts from the market place. Whilst it is impossible to forecast the future with accuracy, it may be possible to take some guidance from the information he shares with us.

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thinkLIFE education

Spelling buzz

TVNZ’s new Spelling Bee show looks set to be a talking point, if US experience is anything to go by. Eric Aasen reports

RISCO, Texas – In one corner, wearing glasses and yellow construction hats, the reigning champs, Fegary’s Whimsy: A husband and wife team plus a friend who love words. In another corner, wearing confident smiles and navy blue shirts, the 2002 winners, Stayin’ Alive: Three Frisco primary school teachers who can’t stand a misspelled word. The spellers huddled, hammering out last-minute strategies as observers holding popcorn and soda took their seats in the City Council chambers. And the city’s 11th annual Adult Spelling Bee was off and rolling. The silly attire masks the seriousness of

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the competition. Contestants spend weeks leading up to the event poring over spelling lists or practicing with teammates. They study competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. And they learn to ignore distractions from the audience. It’s a scene being repeated far beyond Frisco. Throughout the country, more people are being bitten by the adult spelling bee bug. The contests attract participants who are enthusiastic – even obsessed – about spelling, words and language. It’s a way for some contestants to avenge spelling mistakes made as children. For others, it’s an opportunity to show off.

Participants admit that the bees can be kooky. But many are happy to take part because the events typically are fundraisers, as is the case here, where the bee benefits Frisco Public Library. What’s the draw? Some adults are attracted to spelling out of love. For others, fear is the motivation. Laura Belknap Calley, a member of Fegary’s Whimsy, enjoys coming across words in old books that are no longer used in conversation. She’s intrigued about whether a word has Greek or Latin roots. “If you don’t have the word, then you might not have the idea,” says Calley, 38, a former teacher. “The more you

can expand your language, you’re also expanding your exposure to the world of ideas, you’re expanding your heart. To me ... more complete language helps us be a more complete individual.” Susan Blessing, Stayin’ Alive’s leader, cares about spelling because she doesn’t want to look stupid. The fifth-grade teacher at Curtsinger Elementary in Frisco shudders at the idea of letters marred with spelling errors going home to parents. She says she wants to appear intelligent, accurate and thorough. “If I sent a letter to a parent, they may have it for years,” says Blessing, 30. “I don’t want to look like the teacher who can’t spell. “I don’t want to be the one who makes a mistake.” No one wanted to make a mistake at the Frisco bee. A buzz filled the air this year as the teams stopped cramming and the judges rattled off rules: Teams had 45 seconds to discuss a word after it was announced. Competitors got to pass tricky words to other teams by purchasing “mulligans.” Fegary’s Whimsy and Stayin’ Alive faced a handful of other teams, including Spellbound, wearing wizard hats covered with stars and moons; Red, White and Blue Genes, members of the Daughters of the American Revolution decked out in patriotic colors; and the Long Over Dues, a Frisco library group. Out came the first words. Vimineous. “Correct,” the judge said. Zigzaggery. “Correct.” Up next: tracheitis. The Red, White and Blue Genes duo whispered to each other. The room was silent. “Can we use the mulligan?” a team member asked. The word bounced to Beauty and the Beasts, which used a mulligan to send the word to Fegary’s Whimsy, then back to the Genes. The crowd groaned. The word got passed to Stayin’ Alive. The team huddled, and Blessing approached the lectern. “Tracheitis. T-r-a-c-h-e-i-t-i-s,” she spelled. “Correct.” The crowd clapped and cheered. Soon, Round One was over. What’s behind the growing interest in bees? Some say that “Spellbound,” a recent documentary about young participants in

the televised Scripps National Spelling Bee, may have helped fuel an interest in adult spelling. Others point to “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a Broadway musical about kid spellers. Another movie about a young speller, “Akeelah and the Bee,” opened recently in theaters. For all the warm, fuzzy memories, bees also may be a chance to confront failures, says Paige Kimble, director of the Scripps contest. “I think almost any adult who attended school in the United States can tell at least one story about having participated in a spelling bee,” she says. And they also can remember the word that felled them. “That’s a common thread of conversation among people,” she says. Perhaps those memories feed the competitive streaks that come out even in casual contests. At the founding of the Austin ChronicleFado All-Adult Spelling Bee, which takes place in an Irish bar, organizers planned to throw in easy words or sexual words. “We envisioned a bunch of people getting up and reliving their childhood and drinking and being loud,” says Erin Collier, the Chronicle’s marketing director. They quickly realized that competitors were serious about spelling. Now in its fifth year, the bee, which benefits the Austin Public Library, typically attracts scores of spellers and spectators, Collier says. Erika Allbright, a frequent Austin competitor, has a ritual to calm her nerves: Throwing back half a pint of Guinness. It seems to work: The 47-year-old won in 2004 after spelling “diapason.” Among the winner’s loot: a Scrabble game and a can of alphabet soup. The Austin bee is almost like a convention for word geeks, and it help fills a niche for spellers, she says. “We don’t get too many chances to strut our stuff,” she says. “You don’t get to show off that you’re a good speller. ... This is a little chance for us to shine.” In Frisco, winning teams don’t enter the bee without preparing. A spelling list is released in the weeks leading up to the competition. Fegary’s Whimsy practices the divideand-conquer method. Each player studies part of the list during the week – or even just a few days – before the event. Studying consumes Blessing during the first few days as she crams. The selfdescribed team taskmaster has used a tape recorder to call out words so teammate Ricky Beeler, 43, can study on his own.

Between words, she’ll say, “You’re doing great” and “Keep up the good work.” “I tend to do well by waiting till the last minute,” he says. Beeler, a gym teacher who also drives a school bus, will find a smart student to call out words while he picks up and drops off students. Fegary’s Whimsy members learn to tune everything out as they spell. Linda Smith closes her eyes. David Smith (who named the team after a word he discovered while studying an unabridged dictionary) nurses a can of soda. Calley looks down at the lectern or at the far corner of the room so nothing catches her eye. The coping mechanisms paid off in the second round as weaker teams started to crack. The Bibliophiles missed “radicchio” and said b-y-e. Before long, the Long Over Dues fell. Then the Red, White and Blue Genes, and then Beauty and the Beasts. Three teams were left: Fegary’s Whimsy, Spellbound and Stayin’ Alive. The room was still as spectators stared at the three contenders. Stayin’ Alive spelled “macropterous” without hesitation. Fegary’s Whimsy nailed “habiliments.” “Myriacanthous?” No problem for Spellbound. Rounds 7, 8 and 9 zipped by. In Round 10, Smith approached the podium to spell “calceiform.” She closed her eyes as she spelled. “C-a-l-c-i-f-o-r-m.” “I’m sorry,” the judge ruled. “That’s incorrect.” Smith walked slowly back to her seat. Fegary’s Whimsy was out. A minute later, Spellbound went down on “heterotrichosis.” All Stayin’ Alive had to do was spell its word correctly. Beeler approached the microphone. “Lexicology, l-e-x-i-c-o-l-o-g-y.” “That’s correct,” the judge said. Beeler smiled and threw his hands in the air. He hugged his teammates. The crowd clapped and cheered. Afterward, winners and losers and observers gathered in a small room near the council chamber to mingle and eat pie. The event has raised more than $1,700. Calley says she was happy to see Stayin’ Alive win. The team members are nice and do a good job. She’ll be back next year. “Absolutely. Good stuff. Can’t miss the drama.” INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 63

thinkLIFE science

Armageddon it

Space rock could make 2036 a killer year, writes Michael Cabbage

ark your calendar for Sunday, April 13, 2036. That’s when a 300 metrewide asteroid named Apophis could hit the Earth with enough force to obliterate a small state. The odds of a collision are 1-in-6,250. But while that’s a long shot at the racetrack, the stakes are too high for astronomers to ignore. For now, Apophis represents the most imminent threat from the worst type of natural disaster known, one reason NASA is spending millions to detect the threat from this and other asteroids. A direct hit on an urban area could unleash more destruction than Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Asian tsunami and

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the 1906 San Francisco earthquake combined. The blast would equal 880 million tons of TNT or 65,000 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Objects this size are thought to hit Earth about once every 1,000 years, and, according to recent estimates, the risk of dying from a renegade space rock is comparable to the hazards posed by tornadoes and snakebites. Those kind of statistics have moved the once-far-fetched topic of killer asteroids from Hollywood movie sets to the halls of Congress. “Certainly we had a major credibility problem at the beginning – a giggle factor,” says David Morrison, an astrobiolo-

gist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. “Now, many people are aware this is something we can actually deal with, mitigate and defend against.” In 1998, lawmakers formally directed NASA to identify by 2008 at least 90 percent of the asteroids more than a kilometre (0.6 mile) wide that orbit the sun and periodically cross Earth’s path. That search is now more than three-quarters complete. Last year, Congress directed the space agency to come up with options for deflecting potential threats. Ideas seriously discussed include lasers on the moon, futuristic “gravity tractors,” spacecraft that ram incoming objects and Hollywood’s old standby, nuclear weapons. To help explore possible alternatives, former Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart has formed the B612 Foundation. The organization’s goal is to be able to significantly alter the orbit of an asteroid in a controlled manner by 2015. “You can watch all of the golf on television you want, but if you want to go out and break par, it’s going to take a lot of playing,” Schweickart says. “And you’re going to learn a lot that you thought you knew, but you didn’t.” Throughout their 4.5 billion-year history, Earth and its neighboring planets have been like sitting ducks in a cosmic shooting gallery. A glance at our moon shows the scars left by countless collisions with asteroids and comets. In fact, the moon is thought to have been created when part of the early Earth was ripped away in a cosmic impact with an object the size of Mars. Earth also has scars, but most have been hidden by vegetation or eroded by geologic processes such as rain and wind. About 170 major impact sites, including northern Arizona’s 1300 metre-wide Barringer Crater, have been identified around the globe. Within the past century, an extraterrestrial chunk of rock about 60 metres wide is thought to have caused a 1908 blast near Tunguska, Siberia, that leveled 60 million trees in an area the size of Rhode Island. Researchers theorize the object exploded four to six miles above the ground with the force of 10 million to 15 million tons of TNT. Few outside scientific circles took the threat posed by near-Earth objects seriously until 1980. Then, Luis and Walter Alvarez published a study based on geo-

logic evidence that concluded a cataclysmic asteroid or comet impact 65 million years ago caused the mass extinction of two-thirds of all plant and animal life on Earth – including the dinosaurs. Dubbed the Great Exterminator, the colossal object was estimated at 11 kilometres in diameter and created a blast hundreds of millions of times more destructive than a nuclear weapon. Objects that size are thought to hit Earth about every 100 million years. NASA scientists studying satellite photos bolstered the Alvarezes’ theory with the discovery in 1991 of an impact crater 125 miles wide buried beneath the northwestern corner of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Three years later, NASA photos of another sort drove home the potential for cosmic collisions in our part of the solar system. Spectacular images from the Hubble Space Telescope of Comet ShoemakerLevy’s collision with Jupiter showed 21 comet fragments, some more than a mile wide, producing colossal fireballs that rose above the giant planet’s cloud deck. “I think the most important development for getting this (public awareness) going was the Alvarezes’ research that the dinosaurs went extinct as the result of an impact,” Morrison says. “We were faced with a real example where an impact had done terrible damage.” In 1998, a year in which the asteroiddisaster flick Armageddon was the topgrossing movie worldwide, Congress held hearings that led to the creation of a Near Earth Object Program office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. That year marked the beginning of the Spaceguard Survey aimed at discovering 90 percent of near-Earth asteroids more than a kilometre wide. Today, astronomers at five primary U.S. sites work on the survey, which NASA funds with about US$4 million annually. Scientists estimate there are 1,100 nearEarth asteroids that are larger than a kilometre wide. With two years to go, they have found 834, or about 76 percent, of the estimated total. Congress directed NASA in December to look at expanding the search to asteroids larger than 140 metres (460 feet) in diameter and completing the new survey by 2020. Objects that size are capable of destroying a city. The more often an asteroid or comet is sighted, the more precisely its orbit can be

“

One idea would use a laser cannon on the moon or atop a spacecraft to shift the threatening object’s course. Another involves slamming a spaceship into the object to nudge it away. A slight push a decade or so before a possible collision would translate into a wide miss years later

”

calculated. Researchers hope that radar observations of Apophis taken in May by the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico could make the odds of a collision even more remote. “I always use the analogy of a hurricane,” says Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Program. “When it first forms in the Caribbean, you have no idea where it’s going to hit. If you continue to track the hurricane over days and weeks, the future path becomes more predictable.” That uncertainty led former astronaut Schweickart to send a letter to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin last June proposing to land a radio transponder on Apophis to better track its course. For now, the space agency plans to simply monitor the asteroid during passes this year and in 2013. In 2029, seven years before the possible impact, the asteroid will come closer to our planet than the television and weather satellites that beam back signals from 22,300 miles above. Astronomers’ big fear is that Apophis will pass through a gravitational “keyhole” that will put it on a collision course with Earth in 2036. “For all practical purposes, it (a mission) would have to be done before the 2029 flyby to take advantage of the leverage afforded by that encounter,” says Steve Chesley, an astronomer in the Near Earth Object Program. “That means the 2036 impact needs to be addressed by 2026, 10 years earlier.” There is considerable debate about how to stop an asteroid or comet once astronomers have determined it will pass too close for comfort. One idea would use a laser cannon on the moon or atop a spacecraft to shift the threatening object’s course. Another involves slamming a spaceship into the object to nudge it away. A slight push a decade or so before a possible collision would translate

into a wide miss years later. Astronauts Ed Lu and Stanley Love published an idea last year for a “gravitational tractor” to change an asteroid’s orbit. A nuclear-powered spacecraft would be launched toward the rock and hover near it, using gravity to slowly divert the intruder. A fallback option using readily available technology involves detonating a nuclear weapon near the threat to shove it off course. It might be the only alternative if an object is discovered only a few months before impact. Most experts agree the response will depend on the specific threat. “You have to discover and know your enemy before you can even imagine what kind of mission or deflection you would do,” Morrison says. In recent months, some of the larger political questions are starting to be widely discussed. If the Earth is threatened, NASA almost certainly would help lead the response. But who ultimately makes the decision on how to proceed? The United States? The United Nations? What about cases where deflecting an object away from an endangered region might move its course across another area? And how likely does a threat have to be to warrant taking action? Schweickart is convinced those sorts of decisions should be made by the entire planet. He has begun work on a draft treaty he hopes to present to the United Nations by 2009. As for Apophis, NASA scientists are confident the knowledge they’ve gained will prevent the asteroid from becoming the next cosmic catastrophe. “Apophis is not going to hit the Earth. Period,” Chesley says. “Whatever the impact probabilities that we compute right now are, we’re not going to let it.” INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 65

thinkLIFE technology

Mobile web surfing closer The W3C releases new guidelines to make websites mobile-friendly

M â&#x20AC;&#x201A;

obile content far beyond ringtones and wallpapers is on its way with the recent release of guidelines for designers of Web sites solely for the mobile phone. The candidate recommendation for the Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 guidelines was published July by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is being backed by 30 companies which include Nokia, Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo from the Mobile Web Initiative, which is encouraging the adoption of these guidelines in order to advance the goal of One Web. W3C, an international consortium where member organizations and fulltime staff work together to develop Web standards, is jointly run by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, and Keio University. Other supporters part of the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group include AOL, France Telecom, and ICANN-

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appointed registry for the .mobi domain as well as Google and Microsoft. In fact, Google announced that mobile phone users can get free access to Google e-mail, news alerts and headlines, and a personalized Google homepage for mobile devices and PDAs; while Microsoft has unveiled its unified communications plan for 2007 Office software applications and includes partnerships with telecom and mobile manufacturers such as Motorola to have devices that are compatible for the new Office features. Comparing the mobile Web in 2006 to that of the Web in 1996, the W3C has said that much of the same conditions are the same such as lack interoperability, child protection, and problems with accessibility. However, they acknowledged that the current 2006 mobile Web climate suggests more potential connected users, content, develops and industry more than it did in 1996 for the Web. While the mobile Web surfing bug

hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite hit since the emergence of convergent devices, Internet and telecom industries are doing their best now to lure PC Internet surfers to continue their online activities on mobile devices by addressing Web functionality fundamentals on the mobile. But creating Web sites for the mobile is so far requiring communication between content providers, mobile operators, device manufacturers, browse venders, adaption providers, and authoring tool vendors who not only must answer to the challenge of usability but also screen dimensions, image formats, non-text items, color support, size limitations, browser features, and device capabilities, among other things. And when it comes to content, the W3C and its supporting members are hoping to extend the Web content producing experience to mobile devices in less problematic ways as the new market emerges. There are many devices, but one Web,

says Daniel Appelquist, chair of the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group. Practical guidelines on how to create content once that can be delivered to the plethora of devices saves developers and organizations time and money, and has the added benefit of not breaking the Web. As the W3C noted, the recently released advanced guidelines are a how-to to author technical Web content that works well on mobile devices geared at developers, designers, and content producers, aimed at improving the experience of the Web on mobile devices. According to the candidate recommendation, ‘One Web’ means making, as far as is reasonable, the same information and services available to users irrespective of the device they are using, adding that it did not mean that exactly the same information is available in exactly the same representation across all devices. Content guidelines include: • Services that should be available as

some variant of HTML over HTTP. • Addressing non-text content since many devices don’t support embedded objects or script because users are unable to load plug-ins to add support. • Keep device capabilities in mind, ensure that content is suitable for use in a mobile context, and use clear and simple language. • Because many mobile devices do not implement cookies or offer an incomplete implementation or even stripped away on some devices, designers are suggested to use URI decoration for session management instead. Moreover, the W3C has also launched a wiki to collect observations and suggestions on techniques and implantation experience of the Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0., it says. According to the W3C’s Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group, it expects to request that its director advance the guidelines after further testing of implementation experience and practice is gathered.

“

While the mobile Web surfing bug hasn’t quite hit since the emergence of convergent devices, Internet and telecom industries are doing their best now to lure PC Internet surfers to continue their online activities on mobile devices by addressing Web functionality fundamentals on the mobile

”

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 67

feelLIFE

sport

The trouble with Michael

Chris Forster reviews an enigma

rom the dizzying heights of U.S Open golfing champion to the sobering reality of being an also-ran, Michael Campbell’s greatest triumph has proved to be something of a mixed blessing for New Zealand’s most famous sporting son. The 37 year old’s remarkable ride to one of the greatest prizes in world sport in June last year will go down in folklore. His stumble from those giddy heights may have restored his tag of a talented enigma. To rub salt into the wounds his worthy successor is an Australian, 29 year old Geoff Ogilvie. Campbell’s also developed a penchant for criticising golf administrators. The omens weren’t great in the lead-up to the major championship at the infamously taxing Winged Foot layout, near New York city. Two weeks before the Open, Cambo missed the cut badly at the Welsh Open. In fact he misfired by a whopping 12 shots. Before the tournament in Wales he told the media pack following his every move, the tournament was a great chance to practice big hitting off the tee with a new lengthened driver. It seemed a strange time to experiment. His lightweight schedule and late start to the year also seemed to count against him. The New Year started promisingly with a share of fourth place at the Mercedes Open in Hawaii. He then missed the cut in four tournaments and dipped out in the WGC Matchplay in the first round. Campbell remained adamant his game was still on track for his Open defence. All he needed was rest, time with his family and a carefully planned lead-up to the mid-June target. The final assault started with a promising a share of fifth at the British Masters and another top twenty finish at another of his favourite stomping grounds – the

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Irish Open, near Dublin. But for some reason his putting deserted him in the final two warm-up events and his driver went walkabout. One of Campbell’s demons may be his tendency to shoot from the lip. He’s become a media darling since the triumph at Pinehurst, and the million dollar victory at the World Matchplay championship that followed. He capped the prestige titles with top ten finishes in the British Open and the PGA Championship. It seems Michael is always available to talk to journalists. He’s not shy at having a crack at the officials who run the game either, both at home and abroad. Earlier this year he launched into the American PGA tour bosses for not letting him – a U.S Open champion – pick and choose the tournaments he could play in the States. Then he let rip at the New Zealand Open organisers for failing to find a major sponsor for the country’s flagship event at Gulf Harbour. As we go to print the biggest golf event in his homeland is still searching for a backer, and has been forced into a late change of date by television demands across the Tasman. Cambo’s gripe is the sport isn’t cashing in on his success and promotion of New Zealand in the global village. He’s got a point. But his verbal attacks have caught some of his biggest fans off-guard, including golf administrators. New Zealand Golf CEO Larry Graham was quick to contact Campbell, as one of the tournament backers, with the switch in dates in late November. The last thing he wants is to risk another outburst in the media. “Michael and everyone involved will be kept fully up to date with the change. I will be at the British Open (in July) and cheering for him every step of the way”. The initial verbal attack on the New

Zealand Open seemed out of the blue – to a print journalist covering the Irish Open near Dublin. It was almost as if Campbell got out of the wrong side of bed that morning. Great copy but hardly the sort of mood a champion needs to be in before defending his crown. Michael Campbell got the star treatment in the final lead-up to the event he’d been talking up since lifting the trophy in North Carolina last year. His New Year’s honour was bestowed by the Queen herself at Buckingham Palace. A trans-Atlantic flight later and he was ringing the bell on Wall Street with his wife on his shoulder, to open the week’s trading on the New York Stock Exchange. It’d be hard for a humble Maori boy from Hawera not to get carried away by his own fame. There was no sign of any self-doubt in the obligatory media sessions in the days leading up to the Open. Cameras from back home followed Cambo through a practice round with fellow Kiwi Phil Tataurangi, who’d qualified for the event. The pair were part of New Zealand’s brilliant amateur team that lifted the Eisenhower Trophy way, way back in 1991. He even got a dream pairing with his good mate Tiger Woods, whose recent speedway stint in New Zealand with caddy Steve Williams was the last time he’d competed in any sporting arena. The star pair both missed the U S Open cut by three shots. A quietly spoken lad from Adelaide by the name of Geoff Ogilvie, famously held his nerve on the final morning, when others fell apart, to succeed Michael Campbell as the U S Open champion. By the end of the month Campbell had slipped to 26th in the World Golf rankings, while Ogilvie’s second American victory of the year had vaulted him to eighth. In fact there are 5 Australian

“

One of Campbell’s demons may be his tendency to shoot from the lip. He’s become a media darling since the triumph at Pinehurst, and the million dollar victory at the World Matchplay championship that followed

”

golfers ranked inside the top 30. “I lacked patience out there,” Campbell lamented after missing the cut at Winged Foot. “I missed two short putts within 2 feet and that got me frustrated. I started to rush my putting preparation, and my patience ran out on the back nine”. He only made two birdies in his two rounds, to go with 20 pars and 14 bogeys.

“All golfers suffer from this sort of disease and it’s hard to shake. But that’s life. You must carry on”. Full of self belief in the face of adversity Cambo’s parting shot to journalists – “I’ve got lots of U S Opens still to come”. Michael’s kept a low profile in recent weeks. He added two extra events to his lean schedule – the French Open in Paris and the

European Open in Ireland, a tournament he won four years ago. His next major chance to come out swinging will be at the British Open at Holyoak in Liverpool. The harsh reality is New Zealand Golf needs Michael Campbell. His stinging criticisms of the Gulf Harbour course, then the lack of sponsors for New Zealand’s only premier golf event, must hurt Larry Graham deeply. Graham was among the cheering thousands who lined Lambton Quay as the Maori boy paraded his treasured trophy. The Open, with or without a big money backer, is a co-sanctioned event with the European Tour. That attracts top quality continental players for a tournament which is nestling into a new slot to act as a springboard for major tournaments in Australia over the summer. Graham’s adamant the tournament will go ahead no matter what. The game’s also desperately in need of some star power on the world stage. Phil Tataurangi’s shown promise in his brave comeback from a serious back injury, but is struggling with consistency and missing plenty of cuts. Another blast from the past – Grant Waite, has recently had a top twenty finish on the PGA Tour but is still slaving away on the second tier Nationwide Tour. Craig Perks has never scaled the heights of our other major achievement on the world golfing stage this century – his victory at the 2002 Players’ Championship. His exemption card’s run out and he’s no longer taking media calls. Our big hope for the future seems to be Brad Iles. He’s a bright 22 year old whose brush with death after a freak fall from a golf cart in the States in 2004, is well-documented. Iles emerged from the trauma with an amazing clarity and became the Australia’s media darling when he fired into a top ten finish at the Australian Masters earlier this year a few months after turning professional. But it’s all still about Michael Campbell. Along with Steve Williams, Jonah Lomu and the All Blacks uniform – he’s the most recognised Kiwi icon on the planet. New Zealand desperately needs heroes. His U.S Open will always be remembered fondly, alongside Sir Bob Charles’ British Open title in 1963. But he needs to put aside the year of adulation, and start making that talent count where it matters again. On the golf course.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 69

feelLIFE

health

It’s not the drinking...

Claire Morrow looks at the reasons for addiction

i. My name is Claire and I know a number of addiction stories, and they conflict. I have known unaffiliated ex-drinkers and 12-step groupies and elderly sleeping pill junkies and young people who have trashed their lives and their families in an orgy of pain and drugs. Most of them – this might surprise you – have simply eventually gone on to lead normal healthy lives after either a long interval of waste or a short one. Some of them become clean and sober yoga instructors and some have the odd glass of wine. For every rule or pattern of addiction, there is an exception to the rule, which makes me wonder if there are any conclusions we can draw at all about addiction.

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There is the 12-step total abstinence model and the Moderation Minders model and there is also a new book by the brilliant Briton Theodore Dalrymple out, Romancing Opiates: Pharmacological Lies and the Addiction Bureaucracy which suggests that we may be misled about opiates altogether. Dalrymple claims that they are not as addictive as we think, and that the people who use them are not powerless to stop. Addiction is supposed to mean a physical reliance on the stuff – whatever it is – so that on stopping there are physical symptoms. Dependence can refer to physical or psychological reliance. Certainly I have seen people in acute alcohol withdrawal and it is dreadful, but I

concede that much of the pain is physiological. How much “withdrawal” comes from psychological causes and how much from physical causes is a different matter, and up for debate. Is insomnia a physical or psychological problem, or both? I must confess to perhaps a surprising number of smoke-quitting episodes (easiest thing in the world; as Mark Twain said, I should know, I’ve done it a thousand times). I recall when I was young suffering crushing physical symptoms, but subsequent attempts yielded nothing more than a slight sore throat and a temporary cough. No headache, no shakes, no nothing. A crushing psychological desire to have a cigarette, I recall (still get

that), but otherwise, no. Since I have the same body (only more of it), and it was not dose dependant, I assume the symptoms of early attempts existed because I believed they would. There is very little evidence on how effective different approaches to the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction are. What evidence exists is clouded by the fact that the personalities and pathologies which are attracted to different approaches are likely to affect the outcomes. The behavior/abstinence model might sometimes treat the problem, but overlook the cause. Simply not drinking is, indeed, an extremely effective cure for alcohol addiction. But it doesn’t necessarily solve the problem of why you started in the first place, so the alcoholic may become clean and sober, but remain psychologically tormented. This approach is important in the sense that it stops the bleeding. Better to be unhappy and safe than unhappy on a street corner shooting the proceeds of crime into your veins. And no one with a drug addled brain is gonna make a whole lot of progress in therapy. The whole clincher of the 12-step deal is the bit where you admit to being powerless: The drug is bigger than you, and you need a higher power, the only thing bigger than the drug. Now I will buy this up to a point. You may well be so shattered and worn down by the substance that you feel powerless, and act powerless, and are, for all intents and purposes, in fact powerless. I balk at the part that this is forever. It – surely – is possible to become whole and good and sane and no longer dominated by substance or past or any damn thing. I’m not saying that always happens, but surely it can. Moderation Minders – and other similar programs – are non-abstinence based behavior modification programs. You learn to enjoy a glass of wine if you like, but not go forth and get trashed. Obviously this only works if it works, if you follow. If you are in fact, or feel, powerless to stop at one, or if you can force yourself to stop at one but then suffer psychic agonies, one wonders why it is worth it. A counselling approach uncovers the reasons that you ingest the substance, figuring that once you understand why, you will find better things to do with your time. Which should work out nicely if your brain isn’t addled by a substance, and you can make

progress and think things through clearly and honestly. Which you can’t, on account of the beloved substance. Methadone maintenance is a treatment for opiates that is confused and confusing. It replaces one drug (which is illegal and unsafe) with another drug (which is legal on prescription and much safer). The advantage of this approach is that it prevents desperate junkies – and you recall that these are someone’s children, or sisters or brother or parents, who are deserving of the respect and compassion we should show all of humanity – from dying of overdose before they get their act together. It might (but may not) reduce the amount of crime they commit. The brain remains drug addled, though, and the life revolves around a substance – still – and one can’t imagine that a brain in this state, able to make a decent profit in a short time illegally, volunteering to work from 9-5 if they can get a job, anyway. If one of those people goes on to lead a good life, or half of them, that might otherwise have died, is it worth it? How is it offset against those who might have given up sooner if they couldn’t get free drugs? The ethics of methadone are confounding. Easier is the medications for addictions (there is an alcohol antagonist that I can think of) that cause violent pain if the substance is ingested. Makes damn sure you don’t give in to temptation. A small subset of addicts find this incredibly helpful. And after all, they consented to receive it, medicalising a sort of internal battle of good and evil. The true religious have got it right – substances can cloud the mind, and why

would you want to do that? Other than because it is sometimes fun and is socially acceptable. Now it may well not be socially acceptable to smoke crack after dinner at my house, but those who smoke crack do it entirely in an environment where it is acceptable. My house, as do all houses, has its own standards about how much it is acceptable for residents and guests to drink and what behavior indicates having drunk too much (having to be carried to a waiting taxi is a definite yellow card when it comes to future dinner party invitations), and the rules are different in other houses. Adolescents – who are notoriously immoderate in all things – often consider a level of behavior unacceptable to adults to be an acceptable and fun consequence of drinking. And these myths surround the stopping of beloved substances. If you and everyone you know believes it is impossible to quit heroin without help, then lo – it is impossible. If you and your community believe one drink will cause you to lapse at once into alcoholism – lo, that becomes the standard. The obvious key to addiction is not to get addicted in the first place. And of course, for those with children, the best you can do is create an environment where drug use is not acceptable, and then do your best to ensure you and your children are happy, safe and loved. No one ever became a drug addict because their life was overflowing with satisfaction. If it’s too late for that, I’m with Dalrymple: Just stop. Join any damn program you like, it probably doesn’t matter which. Stop.

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 71

feelLIFE

alt.health

You know you’re soaking in it? House-cleaning products may contain pollutants, reports Julie Sevrens Lyons

ne US manufacturer promotes its pine-scented cleaning products as providing a “Clean you can smell. A clean you can trust.’’ But a groundbreaking new study suggests that household cleaners and air fresheners – particularly those with pine, orange and lemon scents – may emit harmful levels of toxic pollutants. Exposure to some of these pollutants and their byproducts may exceed regulatory guidelines when used repeatedly or in small, poorly ventilated rooms, researchers at the University of California-Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory concluded after a four-year study. Among the conclusions: • A person who cleans a shower stall for 15 minutes with a product containing glycol ethers – known toxic air contaminants – may be exposed to three times the recommended one-hour exposure limit. • Using air freshener in a child’s room along with an air purifier that creates ozone can result in formaldehyde levels 25 percent higher than the state recommends. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. • Professional house cleaners who clean four homes a day, five days per week take in about double the recommended formaldehyde levels. The report is the first to measure emissions from cleaning products during typical indoor use, as well as the health risks associated with inhaling them. “My suggestion is don’t stop cleaning, but clean with consciousness that cleaning products themselves contain materials that shouldn’t be inhaled,’’ says study author William Nazaroff, a professor of environmental engineering at University of California-Berkeley. Many consumers just aren’t aware, he

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says, that common household cleaners can be a major cause of indoor air pollution. Some contain ethylene-based glycol ethers. Also of concern are terpenes, compounds derived from plant oils that are widely used to give cleaning products and air fresheners their pleasant, fruity scent. The scientists found that terpenes mix with ozone in the air to create formaldehyde. “On the one hand, they think ‘I’m cleaning germs,’ which isn’t a bad thing,’’ says Gennet Paauwe, spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board, which funded the study. “But what else are you doing in the process? You or your family members may be inhaling toxins while you’re doing that.’’ Brian Sansoni, a spokesman for the Soap and Detergent Association in Washington, says common sense is key to the safe handling of household cleansers. Properly ventilating a room while cleaning it and using cleaners sparingly are effective strategies for those concerned about their exposure to chemicals, he says. “It’s important to note that these products are used safely and effectively by Californians every single day in their homes, in their offices, in their schools and in health care settings,’’ Sansoni says. “And what can’t be lost is the fact that proper use of cleaning products and disinfectants is critical to improve public health and disease prevention.’’ The scientists bought 21 household cleaners and air fresheners at East San Francisco Bay area stores, selecting products they thought might be associated with higher levels of air pollution because of their fresh-scent claims. As it turns out, six contained ethylene-based glycol ethers and 12 contained terpenes.

The researchers, however, won’t reveal which products they used, and which might pose the greatest risk to human health. Household cleaners as a whole and not individual brands are the main problem, Nazaroff says. He also cautioned against falling for deceptive marketing and encouraged shoppers to buy scent-free cleansing agents rather than those with unsubstantiated claims that they are environmentally superior or “green.’’ “I don’t want to go so far as to say we shouldn’t use any terpene-containing products,’’ he says, “but what is advertised as being organic and green and good for us isn’t automatically so.’’ With this newfound knowledge, what does Nazaroff’s family do? “In my household, we haven’t stopped using products that contain glycol ethers,’’ he says, “but we use them more cautiously now.’’ IF YOU’RE INTERESTED The study, “Indoor Air Chemistry: Cleaning Agents, Ozone and Toxic Air Contaminants,’’ can be viewed online: ftp://ftp.arb.ca.gov/carbis/research/apr/past/01336(underscore)a.pdf In New Zealand, there is currently no mandatory requirement to list chemical ingredients on the labels of household cleaning products.

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tasteLIFE

TRAVEL

First base on Everest

Lew Freedman on the enduring tourism lure of the world’s tallest peak

hey were alone at the top of the world, the wind whipping snow into their faces as they exulted. Edmund Hillary, the lanky New Zealand beekeeper, reached out to shake the hand of his climbing partner, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, on that morning 50 years ago this week. Tenzing, on his seventh attempt to reach the 29,035-foot summit of Mount Everest, thought “this is not enough” and grabbed the taller man in a bear hug. It was 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953. His face hidden by his oxygen mask, Tenzing held aloft his ice ax adorned with flags of the United Nations, Britain, India and Nepal. Hillary clicked the camera shutter, producing perhaps the most famous mountaineering photograph of all time. It was one of the most electrifying and enduring achievements of 20th Century exploration. Throngs surrounded the British expedition as it retreated from the peak. Hillary was knighted, becoming Sir Edmund before he reached the Nepalese capital of Katmandu. Hillary thought all he had done was bag a summit-certainly the most covetedbut doubted anyone else would bother to climb the mountain. In the five decades since Hillary misjudged the public’s interest, about 11,000 men and women have attempted to climb Everest, more than 2,000 have succeeded, and around 200 have died trying. Hundreds more were on the peak this season, most paying $65,000 each to follow in the 1953 expedition’s footsteps right to the top. “Everest is an icon,” says Jamling Tenzing

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Norgay, 38, a son of Tenzing, who died in May 1986. “The legacy continues.” The world’s tallest mountain was named in 1856 for George Everest, the former surveyor general of India, but local people have other names for it. One is “The Mountain So High No Bird Can Fly Over It.” When Englishman George Mallory was asked why he wished to climb it, his answer – “because it is there” – embedded itself into popular lexicon. Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared on Everest in 1924, and even today some wonder if they reached the summit first. Then came three decades of dogged British pursuit interrupted by World War II, and near ascents by the Swiss. Standing on a nearby peak in 1951, Hillary and British explorer Eric Shipton pictured a route to the top through the daunting Khumbu Icefall. Most expeditions still approach the mountain this way, as did Hillary and Tenzing. Tenzing was born into a poor family in a Tibetan valley sometime in the spring of 1914, adopting his name when it was decided he would be a monk. He ran away from the monastery and made his way to Darjeeling, India, to become a high-altitude porter. Tenzing was illiterate, but he had a mountain of ambition. He was 5 feet 8 and powerfully built. The year before reaching the top, he climbed within 1,000 feet of the summit with Swiss mountaineer Raymond Lambert. Born July 19, 1919, in Auckland, New

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 75

Zealand, Hillary served as a pilot during World War II and earned renown as an ice climber. Hillary did not know Tenzing before the 1953 expedition, but they ferried loads together and impressed team leader John Hunt as a likely strong summit pairing. But Englishmen Charles Evans and Tom Bordillon got the first shot. They were thwarted at 28,700 feet by diminishing oxygen, fatigue and a vertical rock step that they considered perhaps impossible to climb. Tenzing and Hillary launched the second assault after a fitful night’s rest. Tenzing set the scene in his co-written autobiography, “Tiger of the Snows.” “Many times I think of that morning at Camp IX,” he wrote. “Hillary’s boots are frozen and we are almost frozen too. But now in the gray light, when we creep from the tent, there is almost no wind. The sky is clear and still. “We look up. For weeks, for months, that is all we have done. Look up. And there it is – the top of Everest. We will climb it.” Hillary led the way up the 13-metre spur that became known as the Hillary Step. Tenzing followed close behind with

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much of the 10-metre rope coiled in his hands. Together they walked up the final ridge to the snowy dome of the summit. Later the world demanded to know which man had stood on the summit first. Both dismissed the question as foolish, and to defuse controversy Hillary and Tenzing signed a statement: “We reached the summit almost together.” Tenzing revealed years later in his book that Hillary had been a few steps ahead. “So there it is,” he wrote, “the answer to the great mystery.” It took 10 years for Americans to get their chance. Whittaker, once chief executive officer of an outdoor equipment company, ensured the expedition’s success by reaching the top with Sherpa Nawang Gombu. But some team members wanted more. Unsoeld, who later died in an avalanche on Mount Rainier, and Hornbein pioneered Everest’s West Ridge on May 22, 1963, climbing over an area of rotten rock by a route impossible to retrace. People attempt to climb Everest all of the time now and pay dearly for the privilege. Clients seem undeterred by the May 1996 storm that killed eight climbers and guides, chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s best-selling book “Into Thin Air.” The book created “huge interest,” said Todd Burleson, operator of Seattlebased Alpine Ascents International. “I was getting calls from crazies. It was the new American cowboy thing to do.” Vernon Tejas of Anchorage, Alaska, has climbed Everest twice. The mountain, he says, is easier to climb because of better oxygen equipment and more experienced guides. “We were trying to get our own butts up there the first time,” Tejas says. “We haven’t changed the mountain. You can still die there.” Alpine Ascents makes sure Everest applicants have credentials, Burleson said. One such

climber was Al Hanna, the Chicago businessman who sought in 2002 at age 71 to become the oldest person to ascend Everest. It was Hanna’s fourth try. In 2000 he came within 300 vertical feet of the top. “I don’t think that there’s a day that goes by that a climber doesn’t think about Everest,” Hanna says. “It’s an addiction.” On his approach to base camp, Hanna was spellbound as the mountain came into focus. “I thought, “My God, that’s Everest,” Hanna said. “It’s awe-inspiring. It challenges the soul. It challenges a man’s spirit of achieving a dream.” Hillary and Tenzing became world famous the moment they stepped off the mountain. On their overland retreat from Everest, crowds boosted Tenzing to the status of a god. Soon a song was written about him. With the support of Indian Prime Minister Pandit Nehru, Tenzing established the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling, where he tutored and inspired new generations of Asian climbers. Jamling says 12 family members have climbed Everest. “Everest has always been part of our lives. When you talk about Everest, I think of my dad. When he died I thought, `I have to do this.’” Edmund Hillary participated in other climbs and expeditions, including a motorized, overland journey to the South Pole. He traveled the world, basing himself in the US with his family in 1963 while making 106 lecture stops. But Hillary, who also served as New Zealand’s ambassador to India in the 1980s, devoted decades to fundraising efforts for his Himalayan Trust, which spearheaded construction of dozens of schools, clinics, bridges and hospitals to assist the Sherpa people. American Bradford Washburn, who mapped Everest, says the world is lucky a man like Hillary made the first ascent. “He could have made a fortune from being the first person atop Everest,” Washburn says. “Instead he has focused a large part of his life to benefit the Sherpas of Nepal and their families.” In April 1997, when a statue of Tenzing was unveiled in Darjeeling, Hillary made a speech reflecting on the humble beginnings his friend overcame. “I have never regarded myself as a hero,” Hillary said, “but Tenzing undoubtedly was.”

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tasteLIFE

FOOD

Consider the human Eli Jameson tucks into an ethical dilemma over brunch

’ve written before about my mixed marriage: voracious omnivore (me) meets vegetarian (who has lately turned into a fish-eating “vegaquarian”). Fortunately for myself Mrs Jameson is a tolerant type who doesn’t seek to impose her ways on me or the rest of the family any more than I stock the fridge with nothing but strip steaks on the theory that “she’ll come around eventually”. This is a far different state of affairs than that in an office-mate’s house, where a teenage daughter has declared herself a vegan. And, with all the self-righteousness of a pubescent Lisa Simpson is fighting a guerilla propaganda war on behalf of pigs and chickens and other feathered, finned and hoofed beasts against her poor, longsuffering parents (who after all just thought it might be nice for the whole family to sit down to a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs on a weekend morning). But these little battles on individual domestic fronts across the country – and indeed the Western world – are symptomatic of a wider campaign. Whether it goes by the term “animal rights” or something

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else, there is a largely-unorganised but nevertheless effective campaign to get us to rethink the morality of what we put on our plates and into our bodies. On one level I agree with this. Most people, aside from sadists, would rather that the animals that gave their lives to fill their sandwiches didn’t suffer too inordinately along the way. At the same time, most of us also prefer an “out of sight, out of mind” approach to the whole subject, and unless we share the house with a teenager who tithes ten per cent of her weekly allowance to PETA, it’s an approach that works. Yes, there is a bit of hypocrisy involved – but as they say, hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue. But the idea of being thoughtful about food can take different forms. Certainly in an age when people are far more disconnected from farming and rural life than they were even one or two generations ago this is appropriate. Unfortunately it can lead to either illogical conclusions or downright daffiness. As an example of illogical conclusions,

look no further than the American writer David Foster Wallace (best known for that phenomenal doorstop of a novel, Infinite Jest). Although I am a tremendous fan of Mr Wallace, who as an aside studied Logic at America’s Amherst University, like so many of us he finds himself out of his depth when writing about the morality of eating animals. Sent to Maine to cover an annual lobster festival for an American foodie magazine (which featured what was billed as The World’s Largest Lobster Cooker, able to steam 100 crustaceans at a single go) he must have horrified his editors by sending back a dispatch considering all the different ways a lobster might feel pain as it is pitched into the pot. While he stops himself before he goes as far as my friend’s teenage daughter, he does note in “Consider the Lobster” that “after all the abstract intellection, there remains the facts of the frantically clanking lid, the pathetic clinging to the edge of the pot... to my lay mind, the lobster’s behaviour in the kettle appears to be the expression of a preference.” Fair enough. But in his dis-

cussion, which ultimately deals with the ethics of eating on a “preference” level – i.e., it is not in the lobster’s interests to be boiled and served with melted butter – puts humans in a curious position. On the one hand, if you take his logic to the extreme, humans must respect the all preferences of all other creatures. But what of the human interest to have a plate of surf ‘n’ turf? Here is where things get murkier. Mr Wallace is quite forthright in his discussion, and he generally is content to draw the line and let people make their own choices. I am far more worried about the likes of Australian-born ethicist Peter Singer who, with Jim Mason, has just released a book called The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter. Singer, who is perhaps most infamous for his views on bestiality (it’s OK if the other creature consents, but be careful of those lying sheep), is also known for his theory of what might be called utilitarian equivalence. All species are equal, and a happy Labrador retriever is probably a more valuable creature in the scheme of things than an unhappy disabled human infant. With good reason, then, the Wall Street Journal once equated him with Nazi Martin Bormann. But Singer has put away the lecture-hall bomb throwing to focus his efforts on getting the masses to re-think what they eat. Only free-range eggs will do for Singer (me too, but for different reasons). Speaking to Kerry O’Brien on the ABC’s 7:30 Report on the eve of his appearance at the Sydney Writer’s Festival last month, Singer said, “And one of the things that I want to do in the book is to get people to think about the ethics of what they’re eating, and to think about shifting their purchases so they vote with their dollars for a method of farming that is more humane to animals, kinder to the environment and actually better for rural communities as well, because it would support smaller farmers.” All fair enough. And all things that most of us would support, on some level or other. But the real danger with a Singer is that, given his radical views in the academy, his views are a stalking horse for a post-modern attempt to further deny humans their “privileged” status on the food chain. Just as Western culture is now seen as just one of many cultures (in fact, something of a lesser entity in many ways) in schools, Singer and his ilk are seeking to create an equivalence of humans to other species. In the United States, this bears fruit in many communities where wild animals, even mountain lions, are allowed to roam free unchecked because, hey, they have rights too. What Singer is seeking is not a reasoned ethical discussion where we all make up our own minds, but through his seemingly reasonable arguments, an entire re-ordering – through legislation and force if necessary – of the relationship of man to animal. In any case, enough of this. No complicated recipe this month. Instead, fire up your grill, toss a few rump steaks on it for a few minutes each side, and enjoy. And leave the ethical discussion for when someone opens the third bottle of wine. Then things will really get interesting.

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seeLIFE PAGES

A matter of faith

The Jesus industry churns out another misguided effort, and Michael Morrissey discovers something new in NZ history THE JESUS DYNASTY By James D. Tabor, Harper Element, $32.99

esus Christ was and is the most influential individual in history. The humble carpenter from Nazareth founded what is by far the world’s largest religion and remains the subject of numerous books, studies and speculations. Was he, as believed by millions of Christians world-wide, the Son of God who rose from the dead or as Islam has it another prophet of great esteem but ultimately a mortal being subject to death? Tabor, an archaeologist who holds the chair in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina argues for the latter. Professor Tabor, incidentally, has no truck with the current notion popularised in books like Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and sired children. These books are not even mentioned by title and are simply referred to as “recently popularised notions”; ideas “that are long on speculation and short on evidence”. Christians, of course, may well draw the same conclusions about Tabor’s theories. His opening chapter examines the pos-

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sibility that a recently excavated tomb, referred to in the text as a limestone ossuary or “bone box” may contain the remains of “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. This startling inscription has been challenged – in June 2003, the Israel Antiquities Authority declared the ossuary genuine but that the phrase “brother of Jesus” was a forgery. Tabor considers the IAA finding as inconclusive and refers the reader to a website www.bib-arch.org for further consideration. Tabor’s conclusion, which I do not personally find convincing, is that Mary, the mother of Christ, had six other children – four boys and two girls either by Joseph or his brother Clophas. One of these brothers, Tabor argues, was James whom Tabor regards as the historically obscured but nonetheless immediate driving force behind Christianity after Christ’s death. Tabor contends that Jesus was crowned King of the Jews and regarded as a Messiah figure – and looked upon as a political rebel by the Romans and therefore had to be executed: “There was zero tolerance for Messiahs. They were not considered to be harmless religious fanatics but potentially seditious enemies of Rome”. Hence Tabor argues for a political Christ rather

than a divine one. Paul becomes the leading advocate of the heavenly resurrected Christ and John the Baptist the originator of the Messianic “movement”. In Tabor’s view, Christianity has downplayed John the Baptist’s role as a coMessiah figure and correspondingly over-emphasised Christ’s importance. Because Tabor views the New Testament through a political lens rather than a religious one, the fact that John the Baptist was beheaded is instanced as strong evidence that the Romans regarded any Messianic figure as a dangerous threat that had to be dealt with ruthlessly. Hence, the inevitable crucifixion of Christ. Tabor gives interesting but grim details about this cruel form of punishment. I am no Biblical scholar but there is evidence in the gospels for Christ not being as political as Tabor argues – Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world and also declared that those that live by the sword will die by the sword. These do not sound like the words of a political rabble-rouser but of a peaceful prophet. The miracles that the gospels relate are all about helping humanity and there is much about forgiveness – hardly the words or deeds of a political leader.

the pachydermic sitcom of the ticking elephant – a colourful plot device that successfully steamrollers the novel along for most of its length. Vittachi’s vegans are a vengeful lot who dish out to meat eaters and cookers the very same punishment they give to supposedly insensate beasts, eg shoved into small cages or boiled alive. The Shanghai Union of Industrial Mystics is at times not for the squeamish but I enjoyed its exotic liveliness and its irreverent satire directed at both vegans and Chinese bureaucracy.

THE DRAGON’S PEARL By Sirin Phathanthai, Pocket Books, $22.99

B The Jesus Dynasty is a fascinating, wellresearched and challenging account that shows Tabor has read and compared the gospels very minutely but his conclusions will not be acceptable to the majority of Christians. Arguably, they are a vigorous test of faith.

THE SHANGHAI UNION OF INDUSTRIAL MYSTICS By Nury Vittachi, Allen & Unwin, $27.99

t has been said that the humour that moves us most readily has an element of cruelty in it. Think of those dog-squashing sequences in A Fish Called Wanda – for my money, the funniest film ever made. So if you don’t find the idea of an elephant with a ticking bomb sewn into its belly amusing give this book a miss. If this sounds too shocking or far fetched (and not at all amusing), I can only respond it’s all in the way it’s presented. Personally, I was impressed with the writerly novelty of the idea which provides much suspense plus impressive narrative ingenuity on the part of Vittachi. What, you may be wondering, is a bomb doing inside an elephant’s intestines?

Well, where else would you hide an explosive device if you were a vegan terrorist and wanting to make it difficult for the authorities to detect and if you wanted to blow up the presidents of the United States and China? If there is a villain, there must be a hero and there is – albeit an unlikely one – a disarmingly clever dude called CF Wong, who runs a feng shui consultancy business. Like all detectives; there’s a touch of Sherlock Holmes about him, but overall he’s not like any other detective I’ve encountered in fiction or real life for that matter. This novel begins with a wonderfully satiric image of contemporary Shanghai – a city in which construction frenzy has reached such a level that no building is safe – hence when CF Wong and his assistant feel their building shake what seems like an earthquake turns out to be a demolition ball banging the wall. There follows an hilarious sequence where Wong and the foreman argue (literally) the toss – a sort of Chinese version of Russian bureaucratic roulette which Wong wins by a whisker. The novel dips slightly in pace after this scintillating beginning but picks up with

ooks by Chinese women relating epic family tales of political upheaval, injustice and eventual survival – usually in the west – have been published in an unceasing flood of late. The greatest of these remains Wild Swans but here is another that moves and captivates. The author came from a privileged family connected at the highest political level – her father was advisor to Songram Pibul who had led the revolution in 1932 that changed Thailand’s absolute monarchy into a constitutional one. Originally a broadcaster of great influence, he became a government propagandist but one of impeccable integrity who would not even do a favour for his wife’s export-import business. His well nigh impossible task – dream is a better word – was to help Thailand maintain ties with both the United States and China, despite both countries being locked in a bitter ideological war. Because of pressure from the Americans, a secret deal was brokered with China. After Sang Phathanothai (her father) became friendly with Premier Zhou Enlai, a scheme was suggested whereby Sirin and her brother Wai were to be raised in China. Thus the epic story begins to unfold. In a tale worthy of Dickens, we read of how she and her brother are bruised and culturally alienated in even the best of Chinese schools; of how Zhou Enlai, portrayed as the most avuncular of men, continues to guard and guide them whenever danger threatens. We wince at their sensitivity even as we feel that a bit of communist roughing up of their lily-white hands is not altogether a bad thing. A cultural sojourn that the children expected

INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 81

to be a matter of months turns out to an extended odyssey with a long-term and painful separation from their parents. While Zhou is portrayed in terms of kindness, tact and even wisdom, a man who understand artists and intellectuals (and, it seems, children), Mao is described as a man who feared intellectuals, never with family, “always alone with his bodyguards” and a tyrant. The most poignant episode – among many such – is when the young Sirin is required to denounce her brother and made to confess over and over again to imaginary political crimes – a forced confession that reads incredibly like a parody of similar scenes in 1984. My strong feeling is that what reads like parody is horribly the simple truth. Certainly, I felt no twinge of disbelief. The reuniting with long missing mother and father are like something out of Gone With The Wind but without a hint of sentimentality. This is a richly told saga that has everything – love, betrayal, politics, intrigue and above all, family loyalty. Warmly recommended.

THE FIRST CASUALTY By Ben Elton, Black Swan, $ 24.99

o brilliant stand up comedians make good novelists? If this novel is any evidence, the resounding answer must be no. “A work of formidable imaginative scope ... the writing is so good, the language is so surprisingly subtle and the characters so beautifully delineated,” so says the Daily Telegraph. My version: ...” The writing is so bad, the language surprisingly crass and jingoistic, the characters so crudely delineated ...” Sorry Ben, this one didn’t make me laugh. But maybe it wasn’t intended to? In fact, I remained confused as to whether this was a work of satire or to be taken “seriously” Alas, I think it is the latter. Elton’s language is period perfect. But in 2006, utterly pointless – unless he is trying to ring the changes on Blighty, as it jolly well was around 1917, by Jove. In other words, it’s 400 plus pages of anachronistic cliche – Sapper put through a neo-Victorian ringer. Plot...Douglas Konig aka Kingsley is a conscientious objector who believes the war is illogical. Needless to say, he is thrown in prison, where, as an ex-copper, he is beaten to a pulp. Unsurprisingly, his

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wife Agnes disowns him as a coward. The tiresome Kingsley even tries to seek Irish protection. Nothing doing – the Irish despise him just as the English hate him. Let’s check out the style: “malingering traitorous toad”; “dapper sort of cove”; “cap perched at a jaunty angle”; “had not on the faintest hint of rouge”. Then there’s the melodrama – Kingsley is allowed to escape, only to be “murdered” by a rubber bullet. It’s all part of a plan to have him disappear then be reinstated as a British military policeman in disguise then sent off to solve the murder of a homosexual pacifist poet. There’s a cad called Shannon, who reeks of Victorian melodrama and I’m going to “spoil” it for readers by revealing that being the only true dastardly villain in the book, obviously he has to be the culprit for whom Kingsley has been looking on the battlefields of France. Though my response to Elton’s tenth novel has been mainly negative, he has researched the horrors of trench warfare well and I learnt two new terms – wet dust – being splattered with blood and gore after an exploding shell hits men’s bodies (ugh) and drumfire, a heavy bombardment. In a final heart-wrenching turn of the screw, suffragette nurse Murray shoots the villain between the eyes, and Kingsley (having disposed of the body) returns to England disguised as his brother to reclaim back his wife who all the time believed him dead ... she gives him a well-earned slap which is just what Elton and his publishers deserve for this period write-in-by-numbers novel. Despite its epic badness as a novel, it would probably make a tolerable film. Ben, my fee for this idea is a modest 10 per cent of the box office.

WHITE CHIEF: The Story of a Pakeha-Maori By John Nicholson, Penguin, $39.95

ere not the description “PakehaMaori” – which now enjoys wide currency with historians not included in the subtitle, the main title “White Chief” might have carried some connotations no longer considered politically correct. Nonetheless, a stand alone version of White Chief could still have been arguably freighted with irony. In the way of most serious non-fiction, the

cover has yet another subtitle in which all is revealed: The colourful life and times of Judge F.E. Maning of the Hokianga. Maning is today principally remembered for his book Old New Zealand now accorded classic status. That is to say it is much referred to and quoted from but I suspect, apart from professional historians, not widely read.(I intend to remedy my own omission in the near future). Ditto for The War in the North, Maning’s other noted but less known work. Their current high regard is a recent thing. Nicholson notes that prominent historian James Belich opined in his classic (and much read) The New Zealand Wars that the latter book of Maning is “by no means as fanciful as is as sometimes assumed”. Alex Calder, English literature academic at the University of Auckland, estimates it as “the first work of lasting literary value published in New Zealand”. In old New Zealand, there were few more colourful persons than Maning himself – a giant of nearly six feet six inches, with a fiery Irish temperament (and not averse to a good scrap) and a prosperous trader in local goods who married a high ranking Nga Puhi woman by whom he had four children. Initially fiercely proMaori, he argued that local chiefs should not sign the Treaty of Waitangi. Maning fought alongside Maori in the 1840s. As a profile of his complex and emotionally rich character and psychology the index is a good guide: ornamentation and exaggeration of achievements, enjoyment of outdoor life, awkward social skills, opinionated, prodigious reader, enquiring mind, love of wrestling, reputation as sharp operator, charm, lack of personal greed, productive worker, liking for flattery, enjoyment of cooking, guru status, last minute conversion, lived most of life in solitude. To which one could add wit and a coiner of neologisms. Is there anyone in public life today with such a rich admixture to his/her personality? I doubt it. Maning, like George Grey (who in some ways he resembles), was a larger than life Victorian figure whose life would make a fabulous film. Unfortunately, in terms of political correctness, it would not score highly – in later life, Maning disowned his earlier pakeha-Maori side and become more and more pakeha. Told with zest by a descendent of Maning’s brother, this book is a fine addition to the burgeoning studies of early New Zealand life. .

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seeLIFE MUSIC

Easier straits Chris Philpott discovers the Knopfler/Harris CD is worth a spin

ALL THE ROADRUNNING Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris

WELCOME HOME Brian Littrell

FRESHMEN Nesian Mystik

‘ T

t is a curiosity of music that a great song can be appreciated regardless of whether it was released 25 minutes ago or 25 years ago. It was this thought that struck me while listening to All The Roadrunning a few weeks ago and contemplated the fact that this album of duets from 2 of music history’s brightest stars had taken over 7 years to write, record and release – a staggering length of time for any album, though the lack of time in their schedules which caused the delay was unavoidable. The music itself sounds as you would expect: Harris’ country tendencies clearly dominate but from time to time give way to Knopfler’s sleek, sexy guitar, an effect best achieved on album opener “Beachcombing”. But despite this ‘flowing’ effect, their 2 sounds don’t go together as well as you might think. Don’t get me wrong – Harris and Knopfler are no chalk-and-cheese – but they do have two very distinct styles, and both require centre-stage to be fully appreciated. Regardless, there are more highlights here than on most releases, and this is a strong offering from 2 great songwriters making an album they both clearly wanted to be part of.

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here is an unavoidable fact you probably need to know before we continue, but if I tell you what it is you will undoubtedly jump to conclusions about this album. So let’s save it for later. The best way to describe Littrell’s debut offering is to say that it is pop music for grown ups, and given his background, it’s hardly surprising that it sounds this way. In fact, if it weren’t for Littrell’s spiritual beliefs, which are a prominent aspect of this record, if not the sole redeeming quality, this album would be little more than fodder for middle-ofthe-road radio stations. Okay, that might be too harsh, but it is disappointing that – even armed with the talent and opportunity to create something truly amazing – Littrell did not do as well as you might expect. There are a few good tracks here, for example the opening track “My Answer Is You”, but for the most part Welcome Home is soppy and over-dramatic. As for that ‘unavoidable’ fact I mentioned at the start, Littrell is an ex-member of the Backstreet Boys. Still, I can’t help feel this album is really an underachievement which truly could have been much better.

he time is now.’ Not only is it a lyric on album opener “The Arrival”, but those words appear to be a catch-cry for a new phase in the careers of (arguably) NZs most successful hip hop group of all time, and a loud-and-clear declaration of the confidence which Freshmen exudes on every track. Of course, to make such bold statements, more of which show up on first single “What’s Next”, you need to be able to follow through with what you claim to be delivering, and to that end, the 4 years that have passed since their debut Polysaturated seem to have been a training ground where the groups’ skills have been honed and perfected. The result is one of the most well written hip-hop albums of the year, not just in New Zealand but anywhere. Freshmen is clearly an album that not only compares to its foreign contemporaries, but exceeds them in many ways behind tracks like “One Time”, “Common Sense” and second single “If It’s Cool”. I have a tendency to quickly grow tired of the hip-hop sound, but this shouldn’t reflect on what will probably be remembered as one of the defining Kiwi albums of 2006.

seeLIFE MOVIES

Comedy central

The critics hated RV, but it went No. 1 at the US box office regardless. Kid Keanu’s new flick is more reflective RV Rated: PG Starring: Robin Williams, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth and Cheryl Hines Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld 98 minutes

ou know what to expect from a Robin Williams vehicle. RV is better than what you expect. The movie is funny enough to temporarily divert Robin’s further drowning in Chevy Chase quicksand. That’s qualified praise, without a doubt, and the praise grows even fainter in retrospect. The slapstick moments are completely predictable, but director Barry Sonnenfeld stages them with finesse. And some of the dialogue is sprightly and even witty. Then there’s Williams himself. He’s a gifted physical comedian, and his vulnerable presence suits his sad-sack role. You know that somewhere along the line the

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titular vehicle’s plumbing will go awry, and Williams will wind up with a faeces facial. A runny joke, but Robin manages to swim through it. He plays soft drink executive Bob Munro, who’s losing job security as his dishonest boss favours younger talent. Bob’s ungrateful family is chagrined when he suggests an RV road trip to Colorado in hopes of regaining the intimacy they once shared. They would be even more indignant if they knew Bob’s real reason for the summer trip: to deliver a sales pitch that might save his job. The plot mechanics are tired, with Bob repeatedly juggling personal and professional calamities. But the WilliamsSonnenfeld execution is better than the gags deserve. Also superior to the material are Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth as kindhearted hicks with their own RV. Chenoweth, in particular, is a delight as a voluptuous variation of Dogpatch’s Daisy Mae from the old Li’l Abner comics. Their first interaction with the Munro clan rekindles some

“

The movie is funny enough to temporarily divert Robin’s further drowning in Chevy Chase quicksand

”

of the chemistry of Jack Nicholson’s similar episodes in About Schmidt. Don’t expect any other Schmidt echoes. By comparison, Cheryl Hines, JoJo Levesque and Josh Hutcherson have little to do but look skeptical and petulant as, respectively, Bob’s wife, daughter and son. The film begins promisingly with Bob imitating Sylvester Stallone as a Tickle Monster to his adoring pre-school daughter. In the next scene, the daughter has turned 15 and denounces dad as a total dork. Not to worry. It has a happy, sappy ending. Reviewed by Philip Wuntch

The Lake House Rated: PG Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock Directed by: Alejandro Agresti 108 minutes

eanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are in The Lake House, but the most expressive performer in the film is the house. An all-glass cottage perched on stilts over a sleepy lake, the house is so pretty and unique that it deserves to have a movie named after it. And the morose Reeves and Bullock, both of whom have limp hair to signal their disgust with life, don’t deserve to mope around in it. They do, though – the movie’s conceit is that they occupy the house two years apart (Reeves, then Bullock). Despite existing in different years, they can communicate with each other across the time-space continuum by using a magic mailbox. I swear to you. This sort of thing might work if it was big, sweeping and romantic-we’re in similar territory as The Notebook, which the movie exploits in a credits sequence fea-

turing a notebook, washed in tears – but director Alejandro Agresti’s solemn approach makes the goofy premise even goofier. Shouldn’t it have been obvious that when your movie features a weeping, lovestruck Bullock kneeling next to a magic mailbox and hoping special effects will lift the mailbox flag to signal a love note from her time-traveling squeeze, solemn is not the right tone to take? I mean, these people have phones. Why aren’t they using them? Loopiness aside, Agresti makes the scenes in which Reeves and Bullock communicate across time fluidly entertaining, although scenes where he shows them occupying the same space at different times violate the spirit of the film – if the point is that they fall in love without sharing space, why cram them together? It’s when he has a scene with two people talking, though, that Agresti really gets into trouble, because all he can think to do is focus the camera on whoever’s lips are flapping. The tedious dialogue scenes slow the movie down, even when the invaluable Christopher Plummer is around to perk things up as Reeves’ cartoonishly hateful dad. Bullock is OK, bleaching all the emotion out of her voice like she did in Crash

last year but at least giving her character a deadpan sense of humor. On the other hand, Reeves, as he often does, seems a few rehearsals away from getting a grip on his role. As I drove home from the screening, I played a game I sometimes play. When an actor is unsatisfying in a role, there’s a way to guess if the script or the actor is the problem: Ask yourself, “Who would be better?” Tom Hanks, in Da Vinci Code, for instance, is not ideal, but would Russell Crowe or Hugh Jackman have made the stiff dialogue sound better? I don’t think so. On the other hand, when I asked, “Who would be better?” after Lake House, I didn’t even get to the end of the question before I thought of two age-appropriate actors who could nail this part: Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix. For that matter, picture any movie with Keanu Reeves. Now, picture it with Ruffalo (or Phoenix, or John Cusack or Sean Penn) instead. Twice as good, right? SHOULD YOU GO? You either buy the time-travel-ish premise (and Reeves) or not. I didn’t, but I can imagine some finding it romantic. Reviewed by Chris Hewitt INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.COM, August 2006, 87

seeLIFE DVDs

Kiwi director shines Niki Caro’s North Country is compelling, ditto Turtles and Helen Hunt’s latest A GOOD WOMAN PG, 94 minutes

he BBC called this movie “reminiscent of Room With A View”. Anyone who can remember that acclaimed English production from the mid 80s will probably agree, but in some ways this film is better. Hunt stars as a scarlet woman escaping her New York high society past by shifting to Italy’s Amalfi coast. Scarlett, on the other hand, is the virginal new bride whose husband appears to be paying Hunt’s character far too much attention. The Amalfi coast (think whitewashed walls and an azure Mediterranean) is the summer playground of the rich and famous, and tongues soon begin to wag as Hunt is recognized. The movie is blessed with sharp dialogue, plenty of intrigue and a plotline with punch. Oddly, according to the case, the DVD version is in Dolby Stereo, rather than 5.1 audio, but seeing as it is character-driven they probably figured the extra expense of surround sound wasn’t justified. Reviewed by Ian Wishart

NORTH COUNTRY R13, 120 minutes

or much of the last century, Minnesota taconite mines kept America’s steel mills running. So it’s no surprise that the Iron Range also produced women of steel. North Country is dedicated to some of them: women who were among the first to work in the mines, were sexually harassed there and filed a ground-breaking classaction lawsuit. North Country was inspired

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by a book about the lawsuit, Class Action, and, not surprisingly, it is best when it sticks to the facts. Director Niki Caro, whose Whale Rider demonstrated a gift for capturing the essence of a unique place, does it again with North Country, which shows the spare, beautiful terrain of Minnesota’s Iron Range and displays sensitivity for the hardships folks there continue to face, with the mines likely to dry up within the next decade. The people are flawed and stubborn – including working-class heroine Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron), who files the suit – but North Country is compassionate about their flaws. It says that bringing women into the mines was a seismic social shift on the Range, and everyone had to figure out how to deal with it. That compassion comes straight from Caro. North Country has a fine story and complex characters (the roll call of terrificness includes Frances McDormand as Josey’s flinty friend, Glory, Richard Jenkins as her bewildered dad and Michelle Monaghan as a vibrant coworker). But the script isn’t as good as the people executing it, and here’s how you can tell: Caro takes moments that seem phony and almost makes them work, and she turns the moments that ring true into something exceptional. Caro stages the final courtroom scene with such tact and restraint – minimizing the sentiment by cutting out the sound and substituting a piece of North Country’s wistful, folksy score – that you feel like, given this script, this is as good as the scene could be. The best moments in North Country are

the quietest ones, when the performers’ interactions feel genuine and complicated: a heartbreaking conversation between Josey and her son that begins with her saying, “I didn’t want you”; a silent, loving exchange between Glory and her boyfriend; Josey’s triumphant expression as she watches her children enjoy a trampoline she gave them. As Josey’s children bounce up and down, her expression conveys the message of the movie, which has nothing to do with politics or lawsuits. Real-life heroes don’t seek wealth or fame, North Country says. They just want their families to be happy, free and secure. Reviewed by Chris Hewitt

TURTLES CAN FLY M, 98 minutes

he thing that makes this movie special is that it’s the first feature film out of Iraq since the fall of Saddam, and it has a heartbreaking and brutal honesty about the lives of Iraqi children caught in the middle. The film begins and ends in a village/refugee camp on the border with Turkey, where a 13 year old techno-geek nicknamed “Satellite” is recruited to rig up a new antenna so villagers can see news of the invasion on their TV screens. The real story is the subplot interaction between Satellite and some young refugees who’ve arrived in the village – a young girl and boy and a two year old he assumes is their baby brother. A warning: the movie doesn’t have a “happy ending”, but it does have a thought provoking ending and it is a movie worth seeing. Reviewed by Ian Wishart

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ViewSonic LCD

ViewSonic, a worldwide leader in the field of visual technologies, extends its NextVision LCD TV product lineup with three new models which all include HDMI technology. These additions broaden the range to offer a comprehensive choice of entertainment LCD TV displays spanning 17” to 40” (56cm to 102cm) models. Attractively designed in a stylish silver exterior, the new ViewSonic NextVision N3260w (32” / 82 cm), N3760w (37” / 96 cm) and N4060w (40” / 102cm) incorporate the latest state-of-the-art panel technology combining HDMI digital interface with wider viewing angles and ultra fast video response times, enabling fluid movements to maximise the thrill of watching action movies and fast moving sport scenes. Visit www.dove.co.nz

BeoLink Wireless 1

Bang & Olufsen’s BeoLink Wireless 1 uses mature wireless technology that can match three critical parameters – it is very robust, has a very low level of delay with no echo, and it can distribute audio to up to 21 rooms in your home at the same time. BeoLink Wireless 1 works with BeoLab loudspeakers and the stylish remote IR eye that relays the signal to the loudspeaker. In addition, many older products not sold today will work in a wireless setup. The elegantly-shaped BeoLink Wireless 1 unit is available with a black or white finish, and can be placed on the floor, shelf or bookcase, or mounted on one of two wall brackets. The only cables needed for the new BeoLink Wireless 1 system are drawn from the receiver to the loudspeakers in each room. Further information is available from www.bang-olufsen.com

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ATHENA SPEAKERS

As the ideal choice to accompany plasma and LCD flatpanel displays, the Athena WS Series comprises of the WS-100 front left and right speakers, the WS-60 centre or front left and right speakers, and the WS-15 surround sound speakers together with the AS-P4000 and AS-P6000 subwoofers. The WS-100 is designed to handle up to 200 watts, the WS-60 up to 150 watts, the WS15 up to 100 watts, while the AS-P4000 can output 100 watts and the AS-P6000 200 watts continuous. An innovative design feature, a Standing Wave Filter, is installed strategically inside the enclosure to break up standing waves – resulting in cleaner, deeper, more accurate bass reproduction and overall flat frequency response, and offering audiophile quality performance. The Athena WS-100 (RRP $1199 pair), WS-60 (RRP $399 each), and the WS-15 (RRP $399 pair) are covered by a fiveyear parts and labour warranty. While the AS-P4000 (RRP $599) and AS-P6000 (RRP $799) are covered by a twelve month warranty on the electronics and five years on the drivers. For further information contact John Murt on +61 7 5471 1062 or email johnmurt@highprofile.com.au.

OMNISAT v2 FS

The flagship of the OMNISAT v2 series is the OMNISAT v2 FS floorstanding model. Never before has a loudspeaker with such a small foot print combined such elegant speaker design and superior audio performance. Its high quality, beautifully finished aluminum extrusion houses technology that enables the OMNISATv2FS to perform like no other speaker in its class. The OMNISATv2 FS cabinet has an internally isolated midrange section. This innovative design approach, in combination with some additional proprietary features, completely eliminates the pipe organ effect allowing the OMNISAT v2FS to reproduce amazingly low frequencies. The OMNISAT v2FS comes already mounted on an elegant glass base and is available in two designer finishes (brushed aluminum black, or brushed aluminum silver). The v2 FS’s sleek design easily integrates into and enhances any décor. For more information visit http://www.miragespeakers.com or contact John Murt on +61 7 5471 1062

THE DENON AVR-2807

The Denon AVR-2807 offers almost every conceivable video conversion process. Its 1080P processing capability means not only is it capable of ‘processing’ high quality HD free to air and digital video sources, but it is also able to accept HDMI configured sources such as PlayStation 3 and Bluray players, making it the most future-proof receiver on the market. Denon are also debuting their optional ASD-1R control dock for iPod that allows you to connect your iPod to the AVR-2807 and other Denon compatible components. iPod connectivity as supported by the AVR-2807 offers a whole new realm of media enjoyment. RRP $2,199, comes in black or silver, is covered by a nationwide two-year warranty. For further information call 1300 134 400 or visit www.audioproducts.com.au.

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realLIFE

15 MINUTES

“

I don’t want to just throw it out there,” she says. “I’m tired of that. I want to make sure my next step is the right one, not just … one, you know?

”

2006

Money changes everything Ben Wener searches for the secret to Cyndi Lauper’s confounding success

yndi Lauper and I have been chatting for close to an hour about more topics than there is space to detail – everything from how “awkward” it was to win an Emmy for a bit part on Mad About You to how True Colors has been

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embraced as an anthem for gay pride to how she had quarters thrown at her when she opened for the Kinks more than two decades ago. “Oh, yeah, they threw lit cigarettes and quarters. I, of course, kept thinking,

`Hmmm ... laundry money.’” That’s how our conversation has been – funny, fondly nostalgic, though not without a few testy moments. Like the five minutes we spent bickering over a flashy detail from her breakout 1984 tour. I swear that when I saw the New Yorker with the distinctive voice and the outrageous wardrobe at Irvine Meadows that year, midway through Money Changes Everything she stepped into a trash can that was hoisted over the audience and hiked by pulleys out to the loge section. “No, that was Texas,” she insists in her Queens accent. “But, Cyndi, you were hovering over my head.” “Not there, hon. That only happened in Texas, and I had to sign insurance release forms. I wouldn’t do it again after that.” Fine. Let it go. It was Texas. Besides, the subject only came up when she wanted to convince me that her voice is stronger now than during her heyday, an assertion anyone whose seen her recently would uphold. Which, in a way, speaks to what I’ve been trying to get out of her since she came on the line – that someone whose expiration date should have hit before the `90s is still going strong in the `00s. My first attempt to broach that subject: “How is it that you’ve maintained such popularity when so many of your peers from the `80s …” That’s all I could get out. “What do you mean? Prince is still working. Madonna’s working. She’s doing great. Annie Lennox still does stuff.” “But ...” “But what? Those were my peers.”

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Yes, and so were Thompson Twins and A Flock of Seagulls and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Lauper, whose musical resume boasts 10 Top 40 singles and a debut (fittingly titled “She’s So Unusual”) that sold more than 5 million copies in the States alone, falls somewhere between the two camps – certainly not a forever80s has-been but not quite the celebrated icons that Madonna and Prince became. She’s more like Boy George. So how is it that one of the most recognizable faces from the Decade of Greed – the voice of perennial party tune Girls Just Want to Have Fun and timeless ballad Time After Time – has lasted while so many others have faded away? She keeps dodging that. I try a new approach: “You’ve just turned 53 this year.” Bad approach. “Yeah? And? You want to kick the tires and look under the hood, see if it’s still running? That’s your issue – the mileage? Jeez. “That’s not what I meant.” “Well, what, then? Why isn’t it absurd that the Rolling Stones are still going out on tour? How the (bleep) old are they? 100? Look, Ella Fitzgerald sang till she died. Eubie Blake played piano till he was 99. That’s my intention.” Finally, an explanation: dogged determination. “During the `80s,” she says, “people would say what I did was disposable art. What I gave my whole life to do is not disposable. It is real. It is not fake. It has never been contrived like some acts are today. … I don’t want to sing some-

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thing that will make me stand in my own skin and go `ewwww’ – not when I’m 1, not when I’m 100. “And for your information, my grandmother lived to be 99. As long as I’m strong, I’ll be singing, and my voice is stronger now.” This is where the hovering trash can argument came in. The point is that there is no secret to her success. Seems like there should be – how else does an artist who was little more than Cher’s opening act between 1999 and 2003, and who hasn’t released a full-length album of new material since 1997’s poor seller “Sisters of Avalon,” still fill venues? “I don’t know,” she says humbly. “The people who come to see me, I think, are very unique. I feel like they’ve known me all this time – not personally, but they’ve stayed with me through a lot of work. “I’ve just been stubborn or lucky enough to just keep going forward. And I never did the oldies shows. I’m not fond of them. I don’t want to feel like what I have to look forward to is really behind me, because I’m always just starting out on something.” What she will start next is hard to say. Though Lauper has completed a new album – from which she issued a foursong teaser a couple of years ago – she continues to sit on it, waiting for the right climate, the right label, the right deal. “I don’t want to just throw it out there,” she says. “I’m tired of that. I want to make sure my next step is the right one, not just … one, you know?” There was a time, after all, when Lauper couldn’t get a break. Her massive, MTVfueled popularity from 1984-86 dissipated almost as fast as it arrived, with critically panned albums like “A Night to Remember” (1989) and “A Hat Full of Stars” (1992) going largely unnoticed. At that time, Lauper didn’t have as much control over her creations – to put it mildly. “Oh, my God, please … how `bout touring the country and there’s no record in the store? Or the record’s in the store

“

During the `80s,” she says, “people would say what I did was disposable art. What I gave my whole life to do is not disposable. It is real. It is not fake. It has never been contrived like some acts are today

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but you will never hear it on the radio? But it doesn’t matter. Things happen. They happen for a reason.” Juggling family and creative pursuits, which also include plans for an avantgarde multimedia play, has become a constant dilemma, she says. “I want to be with my family,” she explains. “I don’t want to disappear for too long. I just got a little guy (Declyn, 8), and I want to be the lady with the apron who knows every recipe and who doesn’t fight with the blender. I want to be Martha Stewart.” She also wouldn’t mind being, say, a self-sufficient music mogul, so she can release her music when and how she pleases. Though at this point she admits, “I really don’t know what I want to do with my album. If I had my druthers, I’d start my own company. I think a group of artists banding together, like A&M, that would be a cool thing to do again – a fair alternative.” Can that really happen? “Who knows? The industry has to change to survive. … People singing songs back to me that haven’t been released? Well, somehow they were, obviously. That’s how I realized times have changed. “But that’s encouraging to me. It’s still very hard for an artist today to cut through the nonsense. By the time you finish compromising, you seem like a politician, and what you originally started out doing is hard to get back to. But anyone who is performing with passion that shines through – I don’t know, I think you can still make it with that.”