o sung wu, I hope I'm not being overly skeptical but I am getting the feeling that some polititions and others will be happy to see Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn take the fall for any short comings over this tragedy, all awhile hiding their own complicity of course.
I was shocked to read today that as far back as 2000 Iranian police had asked Australia to extradite Monis to that country over a number of violent crimes there, Australia refused, no doubt as Iran was not the political flavor then and there could have been some political considerations in that decision.

Dear o sung wu,

You wrote: “I realise academics play an important part in our lives. I guess my argument with most...Very few of them seem able to confine or even recognise the boundaries of their allotted task ? Neither do many of them accept their own individual limitations or level of competency ?

They often seem to lose track of the aegis from where they receive their mandate and directions, a serious fundamental flaw. An example; A superior officer, receives accurate data and answers to a problem that; (a) doesn't exist; and (b) for which a solution had not been sought ? Because the researcher or academic felt it necessary, to go well beyond his specific instructions, resulting is a waste of time and resources ?”

I have been an academic. Your remarks indicate you know as little about being an academic as I do about being a policeman.

Hi DAVID F...

I can live with that !

o sung wu, you mention the Coroner, & some worry about their finding.

I have recently been amazed at a pronouncement by "the Queensland coroner", displaying that "the coroner" had no idea of what they were talking about. Yes very common with bureaucrats, & academics, but we seem to believe anything the coroner finds, is solid fact.

I had not thought of them before, & have no idea of how many there are, or what qualifications they have, or require. To be good at the job they would require a huge range of knowledge, backed up by great common sense.

What have you found with Coroners? How many of them are there? How do political leanings effect their approach & findings.

In other words, give us a glimpse of your experience of them.

As for the current fiasco, yes I'm very critical. With Muslim hostage takers they are going to have to be very proactive. Mucking around negotiating with ratbags, letting them give up, or kill themselves has worked with others, but will not work with a ratbag heading to his appointment with his 72 virgins.

Soft feminine policing will not work with these people. They will have to be taken out quick smart, or the death toll will be greater.

The cops can't depend on there always being a hero, who will do their job for them. I hope there are not too many cops at the top, who are all academic, & no street experience

Dear davidf,

You may underestimate the reach of OLO I have a bit to do with web page statistics and you would be quite surprised exactly how many views a site will get. On one of the sites I promote I can get over 10,000 views on a blog post within a very short space of time and tools like Google Analytics give a pretty clear view of where they are coming from even drilling down to some really interesting demographics.

Knowing I contribute here a couple of my mates and a couple of relatives will often remark about a particular thread that has caught their eye, none of them however are posters.

That being said social media is probably far more pervasive, both in spreading good messages such as #illridewithyou and bad such as some of the real hate and racism currently coming through my children's social media accounts.

As to why I still post here? While OLO isn't as stimulating as it once was I always find it valuable in collecting my thoughts on a topic so when engaging in discussion or debate off-line with our extended group, something I thoroughly enjoy, I am a little more able to get off on the front foot.

Actually the discussion I had last night with a budding young lawyer on the future sentience and culpability of driver-less cars was a ripper.

As to the Gettysburg Address fading from memory I think the opposite is happening. Digital storage and things like the Google books project means that things are being rescued from obscurity and I have little doubt that the digital footprint of sites like OLO will be scanned and digested by future historians.

So best behaviour my friend, your great, great, great, grand daughter may well be reading this very post some time in the distant future.

Say hello.

Good evening HASBEEN...

In essence the Coroner is a Magistrate who is dedicated wholly to death and fires. The Coroner's Court doesn't follow or apply the same rules of evidence as the ordinary Courts demand. Their purpose is to establish the probable cause of death, or the cause of fire. In most major Aussies cities the Coroner is a full time appointment, whereas in country regions the ordinary Magistrate can don the Coroners hat if required. There's a certain level of expertise that goes with the job, and naturally some matters do have a requirement for a relatively strong stomach.

Please don't misunderstand me when I mention that some coppers 'quiver' before fronting the Coroner. The real heat comes from a police shooting, where it's incumbent upon the Coroner to examine all the facts touching on that shooting. Generally speaking 'if' the police shooter has strictly followed procedures, the Coroner will produce a finding of 'justification'. Often though, the NOK of the victim, who was killed by police, will be very unsatisfied with the Coroner's findings, if they support the police's version of events (and that's quite understandable), and not the victim's ?

The number of Coroners around Australia ? I'm not sure. However in Sydney there are quite a number, with one State Coroner for NSW as the top man. Two favourites were Kevin WALLER and Derek HAND each were appointed as State Coroners, and both were careful, very experienced gentleman who were fair and compassionate when dealing with those shocked by sudden death.

If a copper was too quick with his F/A, he had a problem. Follow procedure, and the 'use of force' paradigm, generally speaking the average copper would fare quite OK. Choose deception and play 'ducks and drakes' well, be assured the Coroner will generally 'tease' it all out eventually, then you're in big trouble, possibly confronting criminal charges.

Sorry old man, I realise I haven't told you much, but there's quite a bit to it, and I've a thumping headache. Sorry to you too PAUL1405, I'll speak with you tomorrow if that's OK ?