Murder mystery
I feel quite drained at the end of this working day. A lot of my time was spent dealing with the investigation into a suspicious death.
A tradesman on a remote job was taking a leak in the bush when he discovered human remains concealed beneath a pile of wood near Menzies in the northern Goldfields.
He came into our office today and provided photos of the grisly find.
Earlier, one of my staff had called me aside to say he suspected whose body it might be. (more…)
The world is going mad #2
Karyn writes about a practice called “happy slapping” which happily I’ve not heard of before. She defines it this way:
Originally, the idea was to walk up to some random stranger and slap them, while friends recorded the event on their mobile phones. Hilarious, I don’t think! Whatever endorphins that act released obviously became very attractive, because it has now become de rigeur to commit acts of minor violence upon random strangers even when there is nobody there to record the event.
I hope this bizarre behaviour doesn’t travel past England’s shores in popularity but I won’t be surprised if it does, or if indeed it’s already happening in Australian cities.
At the age of 40 it’s tempting to moralise about the lack of values in today’s society. I won’t though. I’ll look for other explanations instead.
The “happy slapping” attack on Karyn’s 13-year-old son struck a chord with me because this week we reported a random act of violence in the Kalgoorlie Miner. A group of five white males bashed and kicked an elderly Aboriginal man who asked them for a cigarette outside a Boulder hotel. (more…)
The Fifth Woman
The Fifth Woman is the first novel that I’ve read by Swedish crime writer Henning Mankel. I saw a positive review of his work in The Age last year and purchased the book while in Melbourne between Christmas and New Year.
His main character, Inspector Kurt Willander, is a thoughtful introspective man who reflects on societal change while solving murder mysteries.
This particular book was different to anything I’ve read by British or American authors. There wasn’t a build up of suspense, but more an unravelling of why certain things had to be.
Willander gradually comes to understand that three brutal murders were committed by a woman seeking revenge against men who abuse women. (more…)
Keep perspective on execution
I’m sorry that Nguyen Tuong Van will be executed today. I don’t support capital punishment. I wouldn’t care if a mass murderer was executed, but I do care that a young man who made some mistakes is paying for them with his life.
It’s important to keep some perspective though. The candlelight vigils and apparent national obsession with this case is over the top.
The Singapore High Commissioner made some telling comments yesterday about the lives that Nguyen would have harmed if the heroin he was carrying had reached its destination. Some 26,000 hits was the amount that he held.
Drugs are evil and Nguyen was part of an evil system. The penalty doesn’t fit the crime, but we shouldn’t portray him as a victim.
The media interest is just because he’s Australian. Think of all the people executed each week in China, the United States and elsewhere. Some of them may be innocent. I weep more for them.
New citizens asked tough questions
I filled out Juliet’s citizenship application form yesterday. Two of the questions stumped me, not for their difficulty, but their inclusion.
Have you ever committed any war crimes? Are you a terrorist? They’re not the exact words, but they may as well be.
I can just picture Osama Bin Laden sitting in his cave thinking he can trick the Australian Government into giving him citizenship by answering "no" to both questions.
Obviously, terrorists will attempt to deceive. I suppose that if the deceipt is discovered the government can deport them for telling fibs on the application. That’s the only reason I can see for asking such questions.
