SPCS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Dave Henderson fails to stop liquidation bid

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The High Court has dismissed a bid by one of David Henderson’s companies now directed by his wife to stop liquidation proceedings.

Wellington accountant Robert Walker, the liquidator of several companies in the Henderson group, has started court action to liquidate Castlereagh Properties Ltd, of which Henderson was a shareholder until June 27, 2010.

The shares are now held by FTG Trustee Services Ltd, a company directed by Henderson’s wife Kristina Louise Buxton, but with the shareholding in Henderson’s name.

Henderson was bankrupted on November 29, 2010 and remains a bankrupt. Walker has also issued bankruptcy proceedings against Buxton.

She is the sole director of Castlereagh, which applied to the High Court at Christchurch last month to have the liquidation action stayed. Associate Judge Rob Osborne rejected the bid in a judgement this month. [Read more…]

Stanford psychologist on “porn-induced erectile dysfunction,” or PIED,

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A leading US psychologist , Emertitus Professor Philip Zimbaro, of Stanford University, interviewed 20,000 young people in the United States, 75 percent of them male, He found that excessive, solitary playing of video games and watching porn is seriously damaging the social development of young men. He says that one of the consequences is the so-called“porn-induced erectile dysfunction,” or PIED, where young men who should be sexually active are “having a problem getting an erection.”

Full story:

http://rt.com/news/257269-porn-gaming-study-youth/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS [Read more…]

Crackdown on child exploitation passes unanimously

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A Bill to better protect children from sexual exploitation passed its final reading in Parliament today [2 April 2015] with unanimous support.

Justice Minister Amy Adams says the Objectionable Publications and Indecency Legislation Bill sends a clear message that activities which sexually exploit children are abhorrent and will not be tolerated.

“The law changes reflect the ease with which criminals can now access, share and distribute child sexual abuse material, and address the changing ways perpetrators can communicate with children,” says Ms Adams

“The Bill increases the penalties for making, trading or possessing child exploitation material. It will work to protect children who are sadly often re-victimised by the knowledge that images of their abuse could be shared over the internet for years to come,” says Ms Adams.

The Bill also includes a new offence of ‘indecent communication with a young person’ which will apply regardless of whether perpetrators contact victims under the age of 16 online, via text messaging, verbally or by other means.

“The measures in this Bill reflect the serious nature of these crimes, and align with the Government’s pledge to protect children from sexual exploitation,” says Ms Adams.

Among the changes, the Bill:

• Increases the maximum penalties for possession, import and export of an objectionable publication from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment.
• Increases the maximum penalties for supply, distribution or making an objectionable publication from 10 to 14 years’ imprisonment.
• Creates a presumption of imprisonment for those convicted of a child exploitation material offence for a second time or later time.
• Clarifies that possession of objectionable electronic material includes intentionally viewing material without consciously downloading or saving it.
• Establishes accident compensation cover for mental injury caused by the existing sexual grooming offence, and the Bill’s new offence of indecent communication with a young person.
• Closes a gap in the law to ensure that New Zealanders who assist foreigners to commit sexual acts against children overseas, can be held liable as parties or accessories to the offence under New Zealand law.

Source:

Media Release dated 2 April 2015: Hon. Amy Adams – National MP for Selwyn.

http://www.amyadams.co.nz/index.php?/categories/2-Press-Releases

[Read more…]

T-shirt classified “objectionable” by Chief Censor now in Canterbury Museum exhibition

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The Press (13/02/15) reports:

Warning: The story below contains material some readers may find objectionable.

A Canterbury Museum exhibition is sparking outrage ahead of its display of a banned t-shirt depicting a graphic image of a nun and explicit abuse of Jesus.

The image and words are printed on a t-shirt that appears in the T-Shirts Unfolding exhibition, which opens at the museum tomorrow.

Entitled Vestal Masturbation, the shirt is the design of English heavy metal band Cradle of Filth.

On the front it shows an image of a masturbating nun while on the reverse it has the phrase “Jesus is a c***”.

Christchurch’s Anglican Bishop Victoria Matthews questioned why the t-shirt needed to be included in the exhibition at all.

Cartoons and ridicule of the prophet Mohammed had led to violence and outrage in Islamic countries, and the public needed to consider whether what happened here could “have repercussions across the globe”.

“At a time when we are seeking ways to reconcile extreme views in the international community, this exhibit could feed the accusation that the West is morally bankrupt,” she said.

“The inclusion of this t-shirt as art in an exhibition is a conversation for the wider community with issues of mutual respect, common decency and what the public wants and does not want.”

Catholic blogger Brendan Malone said in a blog post that a museum should bring a community together, but Canterbury Museum’s decision to hold this exhibition was “irresponsible” and would “result in unnecessary harm” to the public.

“Canterbury Museum has chosen to make itself a place that fosters intolerance and division – and what’s worse; as a ratepayer I am being forced to fund this intolerant and divisive behaviour.”

He questioned whether the museum would display a t-shirt that “attacked and ridiculed Islam” in the same way.

Malone also launched an online petition on Change.org asking for Canterbury Museum to “remove the hateful t-shirt” and “stop dividing the community”.

The petition said the museum should act with more community responsibility and respect for its local funders by removing the t-shirt from its exhibition.

More than 600 people had signed the online petition by 9.30am today. [Read more…]

Schools at odds with parents over HIV information obligation

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The New Zealand AIDS Foundation, a registered charity, says it is against the law to require families to disclose a child’s status.

Parents of children with HIV are under no legal obligations to inform their child’s school – despite several schools having a policy insisting that they do.

About 50 children enrolled in schools have HIV, according to Shaun Robinson, executive director of the charity.

The Herald conducted an online search of schools after revelations a New Zealand father who had refused to seek treatment for his 9-year-old son, who has HIV, was being taken to court by a district health board.

The board is seeking guardianship of the boy so treatment can be administered. The boy’s father has not told him, or his school, that he has HIV.

A number of schools – primary, intermediate and colleges – state on their websites that head staff must be notified of any child with HIV.

One school said the principal, board of trustees and the school’s guidance counsellor should know if a child was carrying HIV. Other schools’ websites said they would not exclude or discriminate against children with HIV/Aids or any other blood-borne viruses.

But the decision was up to the child’s parents, said Shaun Robinson.

Source: NZ Herald on line 9/02/15.

Full story: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11398630