DWS: She Might Be Downes But She's Left Not Out!

The finale of Dancing with the Stars was a bit like watching a a classic Disney cartoon except there were no bad guys - everyone was the winner – particularly former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes. Ms Downes and her professional dancing partner Aaron Gilmore danced like one would expect a handsome prince and his princess to dance – moving across the linoleum of the Avalon studios in a similar fashion to a pair of delicate swans gliding atop a large marzipan packed wedding cake.

Beatrice Fuimaina and her partner Brian were slightly less graceful but nevertheless appeared to be having a good time. Brian was obviously a man who had no fear of ending up in the Burwood spinal unit or finishing his days in an electric life support system a la Christopher Reeve – as he allowed Beatrice to twirl his agile body like a human baton.

ENDS

Gordon Campbell: On The Law Commission Plan To Scrap Jury Trials

Chances are, scrapping the system of trial by jury is not the top priority for most New Zealanders. Not many of us woke up this morning and felt dead keen on dumping our centuries-old right to be tried by a jury of our peers, while yearning to adopt the French system of justice by a judge and a couple of court-appointed experts.

The French are admired for many things, but I haven’t heard many people acclaim their legal system as being so vastly superior to English law that we should quickly scrap one of the bulwarks of our legal system, in order to be more like the French... More>>