A Little Fun With Sunglasses...

It is funny how small things amuse small minds. But, when I saw this picture again I found myself once again shaking my head because I would never have thought about a connection between sunglasses breast size and over-compensation linking the two.

I have posted this picture before.

Nuclear Power, Accidents, and Compensation for Losses -- Indonesia

There are many people who question the viability of nuclear power in Indonesia, such as Jakartass. And, there are those that cannot seemingly get enough of it. For this particular post I am not arguing one way or the other but the photo amuses me. I am merely relaying that the government has updated the regulatory framework in this area to reflect the change in value of the Rupiah from when the law was first enacted through to today. It is in that sense an amendment of a pre-krismon figure to that of a post-krismon reality.

The Government has issued Regulation No. 46 of 2009 to increase the maximum liability for a nuclear accident to IDR 4 trillion from the previous maximum level of IDR 900 million. The legal framework for this government regulation is Law No. 10 of 1997 on Nuclear Power. The losses that are subject to compensation payments are those that arise as a result of an accident at a nuclear power facility or as a result of an accident that occurs in the transport of nuclear fuel and materials.

In essence, the government regulation amends Article 34(1) of the Law.

Interestingly, the increase in the maximum liability payments are not indicative of any realization on the part of the government that there are dangers in the use of nuclear power and energy that are costly to rectify in the event of an accident. To the contrary, the maximum liability has been raised to IDR 4 trillion only to reflect the change in the value of the Rupiah against the United States Dollar.

In fact, the regulation would suggest that the Indonesian government is keen to develop a greater nuclear power capacity, as nuclear power is seen as a power that can bring great benefits to the broader Indonesian community.

The regulation has been in force since 11 June 2009.

At least one might be reasonably compensated, if there is such a thing, for their radioactive glow even though the chances are they won't live long enough to spend it.

Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church -- An Apology

I have been contemplating writing something on this for some time and have hesitated because the issue deserves more than just passing comment. I have not done the research on the statistics of the prevalence of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, although I am sure others may have numbers, names, locations, and the like. Yet, perhaps if there was more open and frank discussion on issues such as these then progress towards a workable resolution might be quicker in coming.

The Pope, Benedict XVI, was alleged to have said on his way to Australia for the World Youth Day festivities that he was going to apologize to all those who have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of clergymen over the years. This blanket apology might not mean much but it would have meant that the Church acknowledges and has remorse for what has happened but is genuinely sorry for the tragedy that it has allowed to occur. This profound sorrow might not pay the bills of the victims or bring back loved ones who have committed suicide as a result of not being able to cope any longer with the pain, but it would say that even though we can never fully make amends for what has happened "we" accept responsibility.

Unfortunately, the Pope's point man on media communications has spent much of the day backtracking on whether an apology will be forthcoming and has even indicated that this might be one of those lost in translation moments, where what the Pope is alleged to have said might not actually be what he said.

Father Federico Lombardi, Director of the Vatican Press Office, has been saying that there is no papal commitment to making an apology and perhaps what Australian victims should be expecting is the Pope making brief mention of the "issue" in a statement. Stupid! This would seem to be the perfect moment to capitalize on the good will of Australians during WYD to make the apology.

It would seem that the Pope has not been pontificating on the issue and is on the record as saying that the Church needs to examine how it is going to, "prevent, heal and reconcile" the past crimes of the clergy. The Pope then went further in terms of putting this into context with, "this is the essential content of what we will say as we apologise."

Father Lombardi seems to think that any apology would be limited to a meeting with church officials and novices. This is the same means that was adopted by the Pope when apologizing during his visit to the US. This is a cop out! He does not need to apologize to the members of the clergy and the novices of the Church. He needs to apologize to the victims of the crimes perpetrated by the clergy on children for decades past.

Why is an apology necessary? The answer to this question is simple and is best done through an Australian example of the tragedy the sexual abuse of children has wreaked on one particular family. Their story is a sad and tragic one that has been played out in many thousands of families across the globe.

The Foster family was by all accounts a happy one. However, this changed tragically for the worst when Emma and Katherine Foster were raped by Father Kevin O'Donnell when they were in primary school. The Catholic Church does not seem to have a very good record in weeding out those applicants that have a penchant for young children.

Emma committed suicide at the age of 26. Katherine developed an alcohol abuse problem and this led to her being struck by a car driven by a drunk driver. Katherine now requires 24-hour care as a result of the physical and brain injuries that she sustained.

In reference to this sad tale the Bishop Anthony Fisher in his infinite wisdom expressed the following sentiment, "Happily, I think most of Australia was enjoying delighting in the beauty and goodness of these young people and the hope - the hope for us doing these sorts of things better in the future - as we saw last night, rather than, than dwelling crankily, as a few people are doing, on old wounds."

Bishop Fisher, you are a fool! These are not old wounds to those directly affected by them! These wounds are open and festering sores that are slowly but surely eating away at the very life essence of the victims of these abhorrent crimes. It is time the Catholic Church ante-ed up and faced the fact that it is responsible as the employer of predators like Father O'Donnell.

Priests like father O'Donnell when they are found guilty of the crimes they have committed they should be sent to prison. They should not be put into the protective wing of the prison. These brave souls that pray on children must be put into the general prison population where it should be known that they like to have their way with children. You should not be surprised that prisoners have families and they have children and that the mere thought of someone sexually violating their children is enough to ensure that the Father O'Donnells of this world get a firsthand understanding of what it is like to be violated. This would give a new meaning to "get what's coming to you"!

The Catholic Church has to start making amends in Australia. This can start with a full, open, and frank apology to victims. Then, I personally do not care if this means the Catholic Church has to sell off all its assets or mortgage its properties to the hilt, but it must pay compensation to victims for the harm these victims have suffered at the hands of the employees of the Church.

Thus endeth my rant (or is it a sermon?) on this subject.

Law Firms and Overcharging

If you ever wondered why lawyers and law firms have a bad reputation then it is cases like this one that provide the bad rap! NSW's largest specialized personal injury law firm is fighting allegations that it has overcharged clients and falsified documents to claim larger portions of any compensation payments awarded to their clients.

The firm is Keddies Lawyers. I used to have to walk passed them to get to my office at the Sydney Regional Aboriginal Corporate Legal Service. Maybe they have moved to bigger premises or something. It seems that they could afford it.

I am not against lawyers making money but they need to do it fair and square like everyone else. However, it must be noted that so far that Keddies has not been found guilty of any breaches to date but within the last 18 months there have been some 25 claims placed with the legal regulator by unhappy Keddies clients and some of these are still pending.

Allegations and claims are flying thick and fast from all sides. A respected NSW Barrister, Geoffrey Watson SC, says it is one of "the worst allegations of overcharging I have ever heard." It is his view that legal fees should not regularly exceed compensation by a factor of two or more. If legal fees do exceed compensation in this way on a regular basis then there is something inherently wrong in the way fees are levied.

Some of the allegations include Keddies charging some AUD 800,000 in fees on an AUD 3.5 million payout. Other allegations include fees of AUD 215,000 on a payout of just AUD 300,000, meaning that Keddies charged almost 72% of the payout in fees. However, the case that resulted in the raft of allegations was the case involving Gu Xi Liang. He claims to have been talked into agreeing to settle his case for AUD 50,000 in 2006. However, he was later to find out that Keddies had settled on hos behalf for AUD 300,000 and then claimed AUD 250,000 in fees and expenses. This means that the victim here received just 20% of the payout.

Strangely, Keddies has started repaying former clients who have lodged complaints with the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner. To date some AUD 500,000 has been paid including payments of AUD 40,000 and AUD 60,000 to the daughter of Gu. Russel Keddie, the Managing Partner, does not accept that these payments are in any way an admission of wrong doing but rather they are simply a good will gesture to a particularly unhappy number of clients. The above photo is of Russell Keddie and Mr. Gu.

Keddies are maintaining that they have acted ethically at all times and I guess the investigation process will determine the validity of that claim. However, one of the allegations includes a time sheet where the relevant lawyer, David Marocchi, has billed 22 hours of his time on one day and billed fees of some AUD 9,500 for those hours. Marocchi has denied that he has falsified documents and palmed of the allegations as typing errors and duplicate entries. Sounds like a deer caught in the headlights to me. The classic example of the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Whether Keddies is guilty or not of any breach of the law is in someways secondary to the investigation process. The investigation must be above board and let the cards fall where they may. The reality is that the only way to restore confidence in the profession is to see that the rules are applied and wrong-doing is punished.

Married and Divorced at 8 Years Old

It is one thing to be appreciative of cultural differences but forcing 8-year old children into arranged marriages just strikes me as being plain wrong! An 8-year old marrying a bloke who is 30 years old is sad. This is not an issue of difference in age, I have nothing against a 50-year old marrying someone who is 18 years old if this is what they want to do as consulting adults. I do take issue with parents who force their children into arranged marriages at 8 years old!

It would seem that a Judge in Yemen also has a problem with the concept albeit the decision handed down is interesting. In Yemen parents can sign their kids over into an arranged marriage where the child is under 15. However, the marriage cannot be consummated until the child reaches puberty. I am sure that there are probably cases where children reach puberty at 8 years old and they are probably as rare as hen's teeth!

The judge apparently sympathised with the girl and granted her petition for divorce. Her testimony as a child of trying to flee a man intent on having sex with her was undoubtedly harrowing. The man for his part provided testimony to the fact that "she is my wife and I can do whatever I want with her". Although the girl claimed rape in marriage, she was never likely to be successful on this front as Yemeni law apparently does not recognize rape in marriage. The judge got around this by stating that the girl had not reached puberty. It should be noted that Yemeni law does not provide a punishment for those that consummate a marriage before the girl reaches puberty.

The interesting part of the decision is that the judge also ordered that the girl's family pay compensation to the now ex-husband! No reasons were offered but presumably this was for the inconvenience of having to go through the divorce. The child was also removed from the custody of the family!

I am going to have to read more about Yemeni law!

Mud and More Mud

Well, the Lapindo disaster that has devastated and paralysed Sidoarjo seems to be getting worse despite all the promises that things would get better and the victims would be looked after. The latest fiasco in this never ending drama is the collapse of the embankments that are supposed to contain the mud flow and prevent it from inundating more villages and farms.

The collapse of the embankments saw the surrounding rail lines and roads submerged in up to 80cms of hot stinking mud. And while the people responsible for the embankments twiddle their thumbs and look for someone to blame the mud continues to rise and is now above 1 meter in some places. Just as Bakrie has sort to blame an earthquake for the disaster the Agency responsible is also looking to blame God, this time too much rain. Yet, the reality is that as the earth continues to spew the hot mud out onto the surface the integrity of the land under the embankments is compromised and they have started to collapse under their own weight. So, if you cannot stop the flow then you must build secondary and tertiary containment walls to ensure that where one collapses you have another ready to pick up the slack.

The other problem that ensures people continue to become victims of this disaster is that people are refusing to relocate to other areas. This refusal is based on the fact that they have not been compensated as they are supposed to have been. But it is not only the local residents that are losing money and being affected by this, the government is losing money as well. The inundation of the railway tracks with thick mud means that trains cannot continue to run and tickets have to be refunded and alternative arrangements made.

The cost of the disaster continues to climb with each passing day. There are estimates now that losses will total in the tens of trillions of Rupiah. It is high time that Bakrie and his family made good on the compensation to the victims of this tragic environmental disaster and forked over some of that hard-earned cash he is sitting on. After all he is the richest man in Indonesia and as the Coordinating Minister for Community Prosperity it is about time some of that prosperity made its way to the people of Sidoarjo. This is especially so since his personal fortune has climbed from a miserly USD 1.2 billion to USD 5.4 billion in the space of 12 months.

Updates to follow on this story as it is not likely to come to an end any time soon!