You Can't Fool All Of The People All Of The Time.

James Hansen’s Former NASA Supervisor Declares Himself a Skeptic
Says Hansen ‘Embarrassed NASA’ & ‘Was Never Muzzled’
Gore Faces Scientific Blowback

NASA warming scientist James Hansen, one of former Vice-President Al Gore’s closest allies in the promotion of man-made global warming fears, is being publicly rebuked by his former supervisor at NASA.

You've Already Had Your Turn Kim ...

and what we have in 'corrections' is essentially your legacy, Kim. Quite simply what has evolved has not worked and cannot.

'Punishment' has been confused with rehabilitation to the extent that prison can only questionably be seen as a 'punishment.' If punishment is defined as an event that reduces the occurrence of a behaviour, then it is most definitely not a punishment .... if an incarcerated one is to 'keep one's nose clean ("yes boss," and do it),' then there is access to so much: education; sports; weight training; exercise programmes; painting; carving; 'therapy' groups; life-skills training; social skills training; anger management; alcohol counselling; religous instruction; individual counselling; films; personal tv, radio, music; the ability to make a drink pretty much when wanted; often recreational drugs and pornography (or approximations to); pretty much unfettered use of the telephone; regular visits; regular and nutritious meals and the ability to make complaint about anything and mostly have it addressed very seriously.
So once in prison a new lifestyle is quickly established - an emotional reaction to incarceration is increasingly a rarity. A more likely scenario is, " Ah bro', good to see you ... what you in for this time bro'." So no contrast between what was and what is now (e.g. Millionaire prisoner involved in drug ring), hence ... "What we do know is that sending them to prison rather than home detention will increase the likelihood of reoffending."

Mr Workman said at present, 31 per cent of people on home detention were reconvicted within two years of completing their sentence, compared with 57 per cent of people released from prison.
This may of course indicate that selection of those for home detention does,to an extent, comprise those less likely to reoffend.

"The latest research indicates that residential alcohol and drug treatment in the community reduces reoffending by up to 43 per cent, while treatment in prison reduces reoffending by between 13 per cent and 30 per cent," he said.
Again this says nothing more than that the selection process is marginally effective. The difference is not what is involved in the 'residential alcohol and drug treatment' packages.

But Kim Workman, director of the Rethinking Crime and Punishment project, said today that criminal justice professionals were becoming increasingly concerned that justice policy was being pushed through the legislative process in the absence of evidence-based research, good information, and adequate consultation.

'Evidence-based,' the new catch phrase.

NZ study challenges world on teaching

A major new Kiwi study into what makes students succeed casts serious doubt on the importance of homework, small class sizes and even which school a child attends.

With characteristic flamboyant, ebullient extravagance ...
The huge study, based on research into 83 million students from around the world (is based on his international study of up to 200 million children .. Radio NZ), instead shows that the key to effective teaching is the quality of the feedback students get and their interaction with teachers.
Hattie's 15-year study, recently published as a book, is thought to be the largest-ever overview of student achievement. It merges results from 50,000 previous studies and a total of 83 million students.

So Hattie advises parents to fret less about which school their child attends, and worry much more about the quality of individual teachers, especially their ability to give useful feedback.

Now the stated findings have been well-reported for a considerable number of years (Ken Rowe, ACER), so perhaps what the study will show is that the results are relevant across time.

Unfortunately, in NZ a study conducted by Adrian Alton-Lee (NZCER) showed that the effect size (in student achievement) attributable to teachers was in the order of 30% - not really such that you would want a teacher teaching your toddler to safely cross the road - and some 60% attribuable to parents/famillies. What was not, and has not been considered in her study was that all that was gained was a 'snapshot at a specific point in time,' a time at which in excess of twenty teacher training providers were churning out variably trained numbers (funding according to EFT points which requires 'success' to maintain) and a corresponding deterioration in student achievement. Arguably, what she was describing was education in NZ reaching that 'tipping point' at which information acquired from parents has greater impact than that acquired from teachers ... that point at which the question,"why would you send your kids to school?" has substance. This study has had a substantial effect on educational policy.

So to put the onus for academic achievement back on to the teaching process, the 'quality of teaching' is long overdue ... aside from it being simply fundamental.

But John is not totally correct either, for one has to wonder where the 'better' teachers end up, and it is in all probability in those schools that have a tradition of academic success, that have fewer management problems, that largely source their pupils from those 'pockets' of higher socio-economic folk. The passion and intensity with which entry in to Auckland Grammar is pursued by parents wanting the best for their children attests to this ... traditional teaching practices (i.e. practice) too.

ACER - australian council for educational research.
NZCER - new zealand council for educational research.
EFT - equivalent full-time students.

Circumventing Judicial Process?

Circumventing consequences for criminal behaviour ... I 'kidd' you not (Michelle Kidd works for Lifewise assisting people through the court process) ... a counsellor consequent upon offending, additional medications, why even perhaps methadone??

"The court needs a medical detoxification unit that is dual-diagnosis, so when police pick up people who are drunk they can be monitored closely. Some people might have mental health issues or they might be self-medicating, so it's not just a case of throwing them in a cell.
"Within that time of detox, connections can be made back to family, as there is no point putting someone in a cell at three or four o'clock in the morning and then presenting them in court that same day when they are still drunk or high on methamphetamine."








"There's got to be a better way than just building more prisons. That is not addressing the other issues of mental health, drug and alcohol addiction. It is just covering it up."

"The police station is not the best place to manage an intoxicated person because police officers simply aren't qualified to do that. It appears there is a gap in the management of these people."

It seems entirely appropriate that those requiring constraint for offending are removed to a minimalist setting in which their drug or alcohol induced over sensitivity can have 'full rein,' where there exist no distraction from the meditative, reflective, self-deprecatory thoughts, regret and contrition that such position should embody ... but trying to wrap the errant in cotton wool?
... and what qualifications do you really need to manage a sot or a druggie other than to lock them up and wait until they are sufficiently composed to relate to the outside world in a reasonable manner?

There is no doubting the notion that 'so much harm is done by the well-intentioned.'