Gayus Tambunan & Aburizal Bakrie in Bali...

If anyone was doubting whether Gayus Tambunan, tax official extraordinaire, and Aburizal Bakrie, [alleged] Tax Evader, met in Bali recently during the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions Tennis, then wonder no more. Here is a photo of them together. It is pretty obvious the man in the wig is Gayus, but the man in the jilbab I would never have picked for Aburizal Bakrie if someone did not tell me it was him.

I guess when your main man in the tax office gets jammed up for helping people avoid their tax obligations then it is a pretty good certainty that one would like to know what he knows and get your respective stories straight.

Ho hum...

(The photo is not mine. It came via Facebook. If the original owner wants credit for it, then let me know, as I am happy to give it where it is due)

Remembrance Day...

The shall not grow old,
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning
We shall remember them.

-- The Ode.

Human Trafficking -- One for the Good Guys

Australia made a request under the provisions of the extradition treaty that it has with Indonesia that sought Indonesia's help in arresting Hadi Ali Asgar El Ahmadi. El Ahmadi is an Iraqi citizen and he is alleged to have trafficked some 900 people from the Middle East and Asia to Australia in the period from 1999 through to 2001. Most of these people are thought to have made their way through Indonesia.

Indonesia police arrested El Ahmadi at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on 29 June. The arrest is only now coming to light.

The Office of the Commonwealth Attorney General is playing its cards close to its chest and refusing to make any comments other than they are considering an extradition request. It would seem to be a lot more than that seeing they have already gone to the trouble of making the arrest request. Nevertheless, the Australian government has 45 days from the date of arrest to make a formal extradition request.

With a bit of luck Indonesia's assistance will continue and El Ahmadi will be extradited to Australia to face an Australian court for the alleged crimes he has committed.

Art or Child Porn -- An Update

The exhibition was to be of 41 photographs of naked teenagers, mostly. Some of the models were allegedly only 12 years old and by my reckoning makes them pre-teen. However, the police have seized 20 of the 41 photographs as evidence and it is expected that both NSW and Commonwealth charges are to be laid under Child Protection Act. My reckoning is that there are probably offences committed under the Crimes Act as well. The Commonwealth law is being used with respect to the publishing of an indecent article on the Internet.

The actual offence requires the depiction of a child under 16 years of age in a sexual pose. I must say that I have not seen the pictures and can only refer to what has been written by others, but it would seem that at least some of the photographs would fall into that category. This is probably also affirmed in the decision for the police to execute a search warrant and seize 20 of the items that were listed to be exhibited.

So, it seems as if the debate on what constitutes art and what constitutes porn is about to enter the legal realm and specifically the courts of NSW. This will pit the experts against each other from the art, porn, and child advocacy worlds and their respective supporters in opposing camps.

On the Federal level the PM has already weighed in with a statement that he finds the images revolting and a case of stripping away the rights of children to be children and in essence do things that normal children do. One assumes that his statement is based on a viewing of the offending images and not just hearsay. As PM he could demand a look couldn't he?

As an additional note. Bill Henson is one of the artists that Year 11 and 12 students in NSW can study as part of a course for their Higher School Certificate (HSC) for a Board of Studies approved subject titled "Photography, Video, and Digital Imaging". It should be pointed out that this comes with a disclaimer in the sense that it mandates that teachers must choose appropriate subject material for study.