The ACA Photo...

Gotta say now that I have seen the photo, I do not see the resemblance! The 'Mercedes' in this photo does not look like the real Mercedes and the 'Schapelle' in this photo looks nothing like the recent legitimate photos that I have seen of Schapelle. The primary differences I can see are hair length and body shape.

I must admit I have never met Schapelle in person.

Perhaps I should have done this research before I made the original post and been more critical of A Current Affair and Channel Nine in manipulating this for ratings.

Nevertheless, the points I made about prisoner transfers and Indonesian prisons remain valid.

Thanks to all those that commented on the original posts on this topic!

Cheers!

A Further Schapelle Corby Update

It seems ninemsn.com and Channel Nine have been a part of a deception in relation to the recent allegations that Schapelle Corby was seen out of jail. Having followed up on the reports and having received some anonymous criticism for the "tripe" that I posted regarding this, I am taking this opportunity to put some other facts on the record.

The photo that I copied and pasted from the ninemsn.com site is indeed a photo of Schapelle Corby but it is NOT the photo that was shown on A Current Affair or to Schapelle's mother. However, in my own defence the points that I made I believe remain valid, namely: that Australian prisoners may need to think long and hard about whether they take advantage of any prisoner transfer system put in place. Like the buyer of anything the Australian prisoners in Indonesian jails will need to read the fine print.

The following was issued in response to the ACA program.

Kay Danes / Foreign Prisoner Support Service release.

Attention: Media Watch

Re: ACA [Ch9] victimisation of Schapelle Corby

As you know, Schapelle Corby is a prisoner in Kerobokan Prison. Recently I tuned into the Australian television "A Current Affairs Program" on Monday evening 3 March 2008. I could not believe that they had compiled an elaborate story to mislead the Australian public. Airing photo's of tourists who resembled Schapelle and her sister Mercedes and alluding that they were in fact, Schapelle and her sister, enjoying a night on the town - unsupervised by prison police.It was devastating the way ACA compiled the story but more disturbing was the fact that they refused to show the said photographs to Schapelle's distraught mother unless she agreed to view the photo's on air. Then they had the audacity to ask her how she could be so convinced that the photo's were not actual photo's of her daughters. Rosleigh Corby has just lost her former husband to cancer and at the time the photo's were taken, his funeral was underway and Mercedes had flown back to Australia to attend.I am of the understanding that the girls who took these photographs were attempting to sell them to the Australian media, although I personally cannot verify that. In any case, I strongly believe that Schapelle's current legal case will suffer as a result of the ACA program and that is more than just unfortunate, it is in my opinion, highly concerning.Foreign Prisoner Support Service is lodging a formal complaint to the Australian Attorney General's Office in relation to the continued victimisation of Australian detainee Schapelle Corby.Prisoners are not, and should not, be put at risk simply to increase ratings or to sell more newspapers. The story was nothing more than sensational rubbish based on hearsay from people who don't even know Schapelle Corby, have never met her or her family!

The moral of this story is do not always believe what you first read or hear no matter what the source. The points made by Kay Danes are important and worth noting!

Who Doesn't Like Bruce Springsteen?

Well, not liking the Boss can be a fatal past time. So, perhaps it is better to just say that you do even if you don't. A Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) woman stabbed her partner to death because he did not approve of the Boss. When her partner suggested that her choice of music, a Bruce Springsteen CD, was not par for the course, she decided enough was enough and went to the kitchen grabbed a long-bladed knife and with one mighty swing severed the aorta and oesophagus.

Now, this occurred after a morning session of beers. When the police arrived, the simple statement from the stabber was "I mean, who the hell doesn't like Bruce Springsteen, for God's sake?" The moral of this sad story is simply that if you are going to mix beers and the Boss then it is best to say that the Boss is one of your favourite artists. Unless of course you are a person of principle and are prepared to die for your principles!

As part of her defence, her lawyer said she had a "brain snap"! I would have thought that was a bit of an understatement considering she killed the bloke for no other reason than not liking the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Well, she now has a sentence of 8 years in prison for the manslaughter. So, she has a little bit of time to think about just how good the music of Bruce Springsteen really is!

Dolphins & Whales

Nature at its magnificent best...perhaps us humans can learn a thing or two from the animal kingdom as it comes to helping those in distress!

A dolphin by all accounts has saved the lives of two distressed pygmy sperm whales that had become disoriented at Mahia Beach on the East coast of the North Island of New Zealand. Conservation officers were seriously considering euthanizing the two whales, a mother and her calf, but not to be deterred up swims a solitary dolphin and guides the two whales back out to sea and presumably back to the ocean life.

So, animals can talk! It seems that dolphins are as smart as the scientists say they are. Probably lucky for dolphins and for the two whales that dolphin meat is not the same sort after delicacy that whale meat is in Japan!

Schapelle Corby - Another Update

Schapelle Corby is now on the record that it was not her that was photographed at a restaurant in Bali last month. Her claim is that it is just someone looking for money by exploiting her name. As I said in my earlier post on this subject; if it is not her someone should be signing the look-a-like up because she is a dead ringer for the real thing!

Schapelle Corby further claims that in her nearly four years of incarceration she has been out of prison a number of times but only for authorized medical reasons such as getting a tooth pulled.

Attached is a recent picture of the incarcerated one courtesy of AP.

When Will Australians' Learn?

An Australian caught with 2.9 grams of hashish on a Kuta street in Bali on 12 January 2008 now faces the prospect of up to 10 years in jail along with a fine of up to IDR 500 million.

The Office of the Public Prosecutor has completed the case file and have recommended three separate indictments. The least of these is a six month jail term. However, the six month term is for those admitting to being drug users and to seeking treatment for their addiction. This will be the likely outcome but the point and question remains: When are Australians' going to learn that having and carrying drugs in Indonesia is going to get you jail time if and when you get caught?

This generally pans out to a six month sentence where by the time the court case is completed there is maybe one or two months maximum left to be served.

A Positive Thought for Monday

Do not be afraid to take a big step if one is required. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.

-- David Lloyd George (1863 - 1945)

Bill Gates Coming to Indonesia

Bill Gates has confirmed that he will be attending the Government Leader Forum in Jakarta over 8 - 9 May 2008. According to the Head of Microsoft Indonesia, the visit is to discuss ways that technology can be used in development and it will not be an opportunity to discuss specific Microsoft products. That seems a little pointless to me seeing that Bill Gates has already travelled all that way from his humble abode in Seattle.

Indonesia still ranks highly on the software piracy index, and a high ranking is not the one you want to be proud of! I guess looking at the positives, in the period between 2003 and 2006 Indonesia's rating fell from 87% to 85%, but it was still good enough for third place in Asia behind Vietnam and Pakistan at 88% and 86% respectively. For these reasons alone it makes sense that Bill Gates at least touch on software piracy and the losses that Microsoft incurs as a result of this theft of intellectual property.

It might even make good business sense because if Microsoft is successful in reducing the amount of software piracy in Indonesia of its products there is no guarantee that consumers are going to fork over the big dollars or rupiahs required to purchase authentic goodies. Most people and companies are likely to migrate to open source products such as Linux. Maybe a reduced cost licensing arrangement is the way to go.

I suppose we find out in May.

A Positive Thought for Sunday

I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

-- Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)