Blog surfing saw me over at Traction Control who posted the following two questions:
“What is the best advice you’ve ever given?” and
“What is the best advice you’ve ever received?”
His answer (go read) is good ... mine is slightly different "Make the best decision you can each and every time."
What about you?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Blame Game ....
from today's news comes this article:
Dionne Lacey gets 10 years' jail for shooting
A JUDGE has lashed out at Australia's worsening gun culture as he sentenced a Gold Coast millionaire's sons to jail over a shooting death.
Brisbane Supreme Court judge Glenn Martin today handed a 10-year jail term to Dionne Matthew Lacey, 22, the son of Ken Lacey, for the manslaughter of landscaper Kevin Palmer.
Justice Martin sentenced his brother Jade Michael Lacey, 26, to five years' jail after a jury found him guilty of unlawful wounding with intent to maim.
"The carrying of firearms is becoming more frequent in this state and this country," Justice Martin said during the sentencing hearing.
The Laceys intend to appeal their sentences this week and today issued a public apology to the Palmer family.
"They have always maintained the incident occurred by way of self-defence and they still maintain that," lawyer Chris Nyst said outside the court.
"They have asked me to acknowledge the tragedy of this event to all concerned, but most particularly to the Palmer family.
"They have asked me to express their regret at the death of their friend Kevin Palmer and extend to the Palmer family their best wishes and sympathies."
However Palmer's father Shane said no apology would ever bring back his son, who died aged 23.
He urged the Government to introduce tougher gun controls to stop young people believing it was "cool" to be armed.
"They're not cool now. They'll be spending their next 10 years in the big house and that's where they should stay," the devastated father said.
"Where are the two guns that killed my child? That's what we want to know."
The victim's mother Ilaria Legge said she didn't feel any different now that the Laceys had been sentenced.
"Our son is not here. To me it doesn't change anything," Ms Legge said.
Justice Martin directed that Dionne Lacey be deemed a serious violent offender, ensuring he will serve 80 per cent of his sentence.
Jade Lacey will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence.
Palmer, of the Gold Coast, died after being shot in the leg by Jade and the chest by Dionne following an argument at a house party on May 6, 2007.
Justice Martin said Jade's testimony about why he returned to the party after his brother was involved in a prior argument "smacked of fabrication".
"Your words ignited the next stage," Justice Martin said. "You then shot your unarmed friend."
Justice Martin said that while Dionne may not have fired at Mr Palmer intending to cause grievous bodily harm, there was still an intention to fire.
"The jury has rejected that you acted in self-defence," he said.
The brothers' lawyers told the court this week that the pair had promising aspirations until Jade, who goes by the rap name Lace Italiano, went to the US for a year when he was 18 to make rap music.
This introduced Jade to the "stupid concept" of carrying guns, the court was told.
----------
While I can understand the victim's family's grief the sentiment expressed by the father makes no sense to me:
He urged the Government to introduce tougher gun controls to stop young people believing it was "cool" to be armed.
Tougher legislation to change the way people think? eeek!
Dionne Lacey gets 10 years' jail for shooting
A JUDGE has lashed out at Australia's worsening gun culture as he sentenced a Gold Coast millionaire's sons to jail over a shooting death.
Brisbane Supreme Court judge Glenn Martin today handed a 10-year jail term to Dionne Matthew Lacey, 22, the son of Ken Lacey, for the manslaughter of landscaper Kevin Palmer.
Justice Martin sentenced his brother Jade Michael Lacey, 26, to five years' jail after a jury found him guilty of unlawful wounding with intent to maim.
"The carrying of firearms is becoming more frequent in this state and this country," Justice Martin said during the sentencing hearing.
The Laceys intend to appeal their sentences this week and today issued a public apology to the Palmer family.
"They have always maintained the incident occurred by way of self-defence and they still maintain that," lawyer Chris Nyst said outside the court.
"They have asked me to acknowledge the tragedy of this event to all concerned, but most particularly to the Palmer family.
"They have asked me to express their regret at the death of their friend Kevin Palmer and extend to the Palmer family their best wishes and sympathies."
However Palmer's father Shane said no apology would ever bring back his son, who died aged 23.
He urged the Government to introduce tougher gun controls to stop young people believing it was "cool" to be armed.
"They're not cool now. They'll be spending their next 10 years in the big house and that's where they should stay," the devastated father said.
"Where are the two guns that killed my child? That's what we want to know."
The victim's mother Ilaria Legge said she didn't feel any different now that the Laceys had been sentenced.
"Our son is not here. To me it doesn't change anything," Ms Legge said.
Justice Martin directed that Dionne Lacey be deemed a serious violent offender, ensuring he will serve 80 per cent of his sentence.
Jade Lacey will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence.
Palmer, of the Gold Coast, died after being shot in the leg by Jade and the chest by Dionne following an argument at a house party on May 6, 2007.
Justice Martin said Jade's testimony about why he returned to the party after his brother was involved in a prior argument "smacked of fabrication".
"Your words ignited the next stage," Justice Martin said. "You then shot your unarmed friend."
Justice Martin said that while Dionne may not have fired at Mr Palmer intending to cause grievous bodily harm, there was still an intention to fire.
"The jury has rejected that you acted in self-defence," he said.
The brothers' lawyers told the court this week that the pair had promising aspirations until Jade, who goes by the rap name Lace Italiano, went to the US for a year when he was 18 to make rap music.
This introduced Jade to the "stupid concept" of carrying guns, the court was told.
----------
While I can understand the victim's family's grief the sentiment expressed by the father makes no sense to me:
He urged the Government to introduce tougher gun controls to stop young people believing it was "cool" to be armed.
Tougher legislation to change the way people think? eeek!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Am I Allowed to Laugh? ....
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A Timely Reminder - Ricochets
When I was on the range on Saturday with the trainees I felt something hit me on the head. There were people shooting on the range behind us and I'm guessing it was either a bit of a bullet ricocheting off the quarry walls or a piece of rock. It did no damage but did remind me that there are dangers with the sport and you need to be careful to minimise them where possible.
In today's news we have another story about a ricochet - unfortunately much more serious ....
Shot deer hunter out of danger
A 22-year-old man who was shot while hunting deer in country Victoria yesterday is recovering well in hospital.
He remains in intensive care but is now out of danger, a spokeswoman for the Royal Melbourne Hospital said.
The accident occurred about 7.30am and involved a group of seven shooters in a state forest in Rawson in Victoria's east.
Police were told one of the shooters fired at a deer but the bullet ricocheted off a rock and hit the man in the upper chest.
He was flown to Royal Melbourne in a critical condition but is now out of danger.
Glad to hear that he is now out of danger, hopefully his recovery is speedy and complete.
In today's news we have another story about a ricochet - unfortunately much more serious ....
Shot deer hunter out of danger
A 22-year-old man who was shot while hunting deer in country Victoria yesterday is recovering well in hospital.
He remains in intensive care but is now out of danger, a spokeswoman for the Royal Melbourne Hospital said.
The accident occurred about 7.30am and involved a group of seven shooters in a state forest in Rawson in Victoria's east.
Police were told one of the shooters fired at a deer but the bullet ricocheted off a rock and hit the man in the upper chest.
He was flown to Royal Melbourne in a critical condition but is now out of danger.
Glad to hear that he is now out of danger, hopefully his recovery is speedy and complete.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Only in America - Hopefully
Came across this today, I'm hoping the idea never comes "down under" ... but seriously guys, please let me know in comments whether or not you've tried this!
A Whole Chicken In A Can
Follow the link to read the whole experience with photos ...
A Whole Chicken In A Can
Follow the link to read the whole experience with photos ...
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Things Kids Say
I mentioned to my girls that we were going to a Vegetarian Restaurant today. My 5y.o. asked what a vegetarian was. I explained that they were people do didn't eat meat. My 7.y.o. goes "Oh, you mean a herbivore"!.
Orientation Reports #1 & #2
Forgot to write a post on our Orienteering Experience on April 26th.
We did a course out at John Forrest National Park. We were rather unsure of where we were supposed to go and what we were supposed to do. However, the registration area was well signposted and there were lots of people there to explain the process and advise.
Based on the advice received we decided to do the "VE - Very Easy" course. Apparently this level of course is designed for 7y.o. to navigate on their own. The course follows tracks or other obvious features the whole way and each turn is marked with a checkpoint.
The VE course was approximately 2.3km and it was a "walk in the park" (apart from a 5y.o. who complained ALL the time - my youngest doesn't like walking - ever!). Still she is very good at navigating and loved using the E-tag at the checkpoints.
Today we went and did another course out at Kalamunda National Park (Jorgensen Park). This time we decided to the "E - Easy" course.
This was more of a challenge. Although you can use tracks to get to each checkpoint there are options for cross-country work as well. We did a mixture of the tracks and cross-country, particularly as most of the cross-country work was through areas of Parrot Bush (not fun!). There were also less checkpoints, and the ones that were there were further apart.
We found that this was a good challenge for all of us. My youngest still complained the whole way though ... so I'm trying to decide if it is worth dragging her along with us each time or if we should find an alternative activity for her on Sunday mornings. I like the idea of the family doing an activity together and she is quite a strong willed child so learning to compromise isn't the worst thing she could learn. However, I don't want to turn her off orienteering forever.
Unfortunately my camera has just eaten my photos of the events. Here's some from my husband's camera of the first event:
At a checkpoint
The cheer squad
My Youngest's Favourite Hobby
We are looking forward to the next event at Gooseberry Hill National Park on Sunday May 10th.
We did a course out at John Forrest National Park. We were rather unsure of where we were supposed to go and what we were supposed to do. However, the registration area was well signposted and there were lots of people there to explain the process and advise.
Based on the advice received we decided to do the "VE - Very Easy" course. Apparently this level of course is designed for 7y.o. to navigate on their own. The course follows tracks or other obvious features the whole way and each turn is marked with a checkpoint.
The VE course was approximately 2.3km and it was a "walk in the park" (apart from a 5y.o. who complained ALL the time - my youngest doesn't like walking - ever!). Still she is very good at navigating and loved using the E-tag at the checkpoints.
Today we went and did another course out at Kalamunda National Park (Jorgensen Park). This time we decided to the "E - Easy" course.
This was more of a challenge. Although you can use tracks to get to each checkpoint there are options for cross-country work as well. We did a mixture of the tracks and cross-country, particularly as most of the cross-country work was through areas of Parrot Bush (not fun!). There were also less checkpoints, and the ones that were there were further apart.
We found that this was a good challenge for all of us. My youngest still complained the whole way though ... so I'm trying to decide if it is worth dragging her along with us each time or if we should find an alternative activity for her on Sunday mornings. I like the idea of the family doing an activity together and she is quite a strong willed child so learning to compromise isn't the worst thing she could learn. However, I don't want to turn her off orienteering forever.
Unfortunately my camera has just eaten my photos of the events. Here's some from my husband's camera of the first event:
At a checkpoint
The cheer squad
My Youngest's Favourite Hobby
We are looking forward to the next event at Gooseberry Hill National Park on Sunday May 10th.
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