Monthly Archives: November 2012

Healthy Mango & Chicken Salad

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Recipes

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3/4 cup uncooked rice, preferably short grain
2/3 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon oil
5/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 mango, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 3/4 tablespoons lime juice (about 2 limes)
1/2 cup chopped dhania
Directions:

1
Cook rice until done, and rinse with cold water.
2
Coat chicken with 1 tbs. of the oil and season with 1/4 teaspoons of the S/P.
3
Cook chicken until done.
4
When chicken is cool enough to handle, dice into 1/2-inch pieces.
5
Toss the rice, chicken, onion, mango,  and rest of the oil (1 tbs), remaining salt and pepper, lime juice, and cilantro.
6
Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-mango-and-rice-salad-62882?scaleto=4&mode=null&st=true&oc=linkback

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The Law is an Ass

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Grey Power Editor

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AUTHOR: Charles Dickens (1812–70)
QUOTATION: “If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble,… “the law is a ass—a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experience—by experience.”
ATTRIBUTION: CHARLES DICKENS, Oliver Twist, chapter 51, p. 489 (1970). First published serially 1837–1839.
SUBJECTS: Law

It appears as far as Fiji is concerned nothing has changed in 173 years. One wonders what Charles Dickens would write about the government decrees put in place to restrict Fiji Pensioners from taking legal action against the FNPF to recover monies legally due to them.

What would he write about Greg Bullard ?, and he could write volumes on the evidence put forward by William Marshal Q.C. in his petition to the Fiji Prime Minister and his Military Council which was disregarded, or possibly never read by them.
Final Petition of William R Marshall_rvse

There are vast opportunities for writers the like of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare at the present time in Fiji, where the law still seems to be an Ass.

30 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Daily Humour

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A man wakes up in the hospital bandaged from head to foot. The doctor comes in and says, “Ah, I see you’ve regained consciousness. Now you probably won’t remember, but you were in a huge pile-up on the freeway.

You’re going to be ok, you’ll walk again and everything, but your penis was severed in the accident and we couldn’t find it.” The man groans, but the doctor goes on, “You’ve got $9000 in insurance compensation coming and we now have the technology to build a new penis. They work great, but they don’t come cheap. It’s roughly $1000 an inch.”

The man perks up. “So,” the doctor says, “you must decide how many Inches you want. But I understand that you have been married for over thirty years and this is something you should discuss with your wife. If you had a five-incher before and get a nine-incher now, she might be a bit put out.

If you had a nine-incher before and you decide to only invest in a five-incher now, she might be disappointed. It’s important that she plays a role in helping you make a decision.”

The man agrees to talk it over with his wife…

The doctor comes back the next day, “So, have you spoken with your wife?”

“Yes I have,” says the man.

“And, has she helped you make a decision?”

“Yes” says the man.

“What is your decision?” asks the doctor.

“We’re getting granite countertops.”

Lemon Garlic Tilapia

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Recipes

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  • What you need for four servings:
    4 tilapia fillets
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
  • pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Rinse tilapia fillets under cool water, and pat dry with paper towels.
  3. Place fillets in baking dish. Pour lemon juice over fillets, then drizzle butter on top. Sprinkle with garlic, parsley, and pepper.
  4. Bake in preheated oven until the fish is white and flakes when pulled apart with a fork, about 30 minutes.

The risks of eating a grapefruit

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Health Hints

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The risks of eating a grapefruit with certain prescription drugs are greater than previously thought, scientists warn.

It was known that grapefruit can cause adverse reactions when combined with certain drugs, but now doctors say the risks are greater than previously thought.

The fruit can cause death, acute kidney failure, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, bone marrow suppression in immunocompromised people, renal toxicity and other serious side effects because of its interactions with drugs.

There are more than 85 drugs that may interact with grapefruit, and 43 can have serious side effects.

The reaction occurs because an active ingredient in the fruit – furanocoumarins – inhibit an activating enzyme in the body. This can lead to the effect of multiple ‘doses’ of the drug being received with a single dose.

The drugs include certain statins, immuno-suppressants and anti-histamines.

Canadian scientists who discovered the interactions more than 20 years ago, looked at the latest research to help doctors better understand the serious effects the common food can have when consumed with certain prescription drugs .

Dr David Bailey said: “Many of the drugs that interact with grapefruit are highly prescribed and are essential for the treatment of important or common medical conditions.

“Recently, however, a disturbing trend has been seen. Between 2008 and 2012, the number of medications with the potential to interact with grapefruit and cause serious adverse effects…has increased from 17 to 43, representing an average rate of increase exceeding 6 drugs per year.

This increase is a result of the introduction of new chemical entities and formulations.

Unless health care professionals are aware of the possibility that the adverse event they are seeing might have an origin in the recent addition of grapefruit to the patient’s diet, it is very unlikely that they will investigate it.

“In addition, the patient may not volunteer this information. Thus, we contend that there remains a lack of knowledge about this interaction in the general healthcare community.”

Other citrus fruits such as Seville oranges, often used in marmalade, limes and pomelos also contain furanocoumarins.

These chemicals are innate to the fruit and cause the interaction by irreversible inhibition of the drug metabolizing CYP3A4 enzyme that normally inactivates the effects of an estimated 50% of all medication.

Drugs that interact with these chemicals have three characteristics: they are administered orally, they have very low to intermediate bioavailability – percentage of the oral dose of drug absorbed into the blood circulation unchanged – and they undergo drug metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract by CYP3A4.

For drugs with very low bioavailability, ingestion of a single normal amount of grapefruit can be analogous to consuming multiple doses of the drug alone.

This interaction can occur even if grapefruit is consumed many hours before taking the medication. This means that a modest solitary quantity of grapefruit can affect interacting drugs that are taken once a day at any time during the dosing interval.

Frequent daily consumption of a regular amount can further augment the effect. For example, simvastatin, a commonly used statin, combined with a 200-mL glass of grapefruit juice once a day for 3 days, produced a 330% systemic concentration of the drug compared with water.

People older than 45 years are the prime purchasers of grapefruit and receive the most prescriptions for drugs.

Because of the size of this population, substantial exposure to this interaction is likely. As well, older adults can have decreased ability to tolerate excessive systemic drug concentrations. Consequently, older people are especially vulnerable to these interactions.

Dr Bailey said: “The current trend of increasing numbers of newly marketed grapefruit-affected drugs possessing substantial adverse clinical effects necessitates an understanding of this interaction and the application of this knowledge for the safe and effective use of drugs in general practice.”

The findings are published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Criminal Activity

26 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Articles & Reports

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After his Fiji 2103 Budget speech, the Prime Minster COMMODORE JOSAIA VOREQE  BAINIMARAMA, OStJ,MSD,jssc,psc, addressed the Nation on National Television with an impassioned speech about the values of honesty and integrity, pointing out the damage that theft and corruption is doing to Fiji as a Nation.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is clearly suffering from severe memory loss, since he appears to forgotten that it was he, and his henchmen that facilitated theft of pensioners funds, that it was he who made it possible for the most fragile members of our society to be cheated and propelled into poverty.

The current pensioners of Fiji have been denied access to the courts, yet Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama OStJ,MSD,jssc,psc procrastinates about new legal aid facilities that both William Roberts Marshall QC and Greg Bullard have indicated will not lead to an impartial Court of Justice (see our recent article and the following link)

Final Petition of William R Marshall_rvse

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama OStJ,MSD,jssc,psc and his Military Council may have a number of achievements they can be proud of, but their abysmal treatment of Fiji Pensioners who were members of the FNPF is not among them.

Memories

25 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in Daily Humour

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A couple was Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve and the whole place was heaving, packed with other last minute shoppers.


Walking through the shopping centre the surprised wife looked up from a window display and noticed her husband was nowhere to be seen. She knew they had lots still to do and she became very upset.

She rummaged in her handbag and found her mobile phoned then used it to call her husband to ask him where he was.

The husband in a calm voice replied: “Darling, you remember the jewellery shop we went into five years ago, where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we could not afford and I told you that one day I would get it for you…?”

His wife’s eyes filled with tears of emotion, she began to cry softly and stifling a sob she whispered:”Yes, I remember that jewellery shop…”

“Well,” he said, “I’m in the pub next to it!”

Justice Abused is Justice Denied ll

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in Articles & Reports

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To Whom It May Concern, (It concerns every pensioner and every and every citizen of Fiji )

The following is a summary of my legal observations of the justice/legal regulatory regimes in Fiji. These observations are derived from my own legal research and not by virtue of my position as Fiji’s shortest serving ad-hoc resident magistrate/ Head of the Legal Practitioners Unit.

Judicial Oversight: 
The judiciary of Fiji is regulated by the Administration of Justice Decree 2009. Section 16 states:

Judicial Service Commission
 16.-(1) This section establishes a Judicial Service Commission consisting of:
 (a) The Chief Justice, who is to be its chairperson;
 (b) The President of the Court of Appeal;
 (c) A Legal Practitioner with not less than 15 years post-admission practice, to be appointed by the President on the advice of the Attorney-General;
 (d) A person, not being a legal practitioner, appointed by the President on the advice of the Attorney-General.

 (2) The quorum of the Judicial Service Commission shall consist of the Chairperson and one other member.

 (3) In addition to the functions conferred on it elsewhere in this Decree, the Judicial Service Commission may investigate complaints about judges and judicial officers of courts subordinate to the High Court and may take disciplinary action against them.

(4) For the purposes of taking disciplinary action under subsection (3) above, the Judicial Service Commission may make such Rules as it deems fit for the performance its functions.

(5) The members of the Judicial Service Commission are entitled to such allowances as may be fixed by law.

(6) The Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission shall be the Chief Registrar, or any other person performing the functions of that Office.Firstly note section (s) 16 subsection (ss)(3), above. The effect of this section is that any judge or judicial officer s, subordinate to a high court judge can be subject of any complaint. and dismissed by the Judicial Services Commission, a quorum of which is the Chief Justice and one other member.

This work of legal trickery ensures that the judiciary of Fiji can never be independent whist this decree exists. All judicial officers are beholden to the Chief Justice. In New South Wales, by way of comparison, all judicial officers are subject to parliamentary oversight, not judicial oversight. Whilst the Judicial Commission has the power to investigate complaints, it is Parliament alone that has the power to dismiss, not the Chief Justice with a presidential “rubber stamp”.

The existence of this situation is a cause to the high volume of complaints that are received by the Legal Practitioners Unit. In my short time in office, prior to my dismissal (for reasons unknown) I was unable to ascertain the percentage of complaints that are attributable to the lack of legal profession/judicial independence. 
How can judicial officers in Fiji exercise their functions without “fear or favour”? They simply cannot.

Regulation of the Legal Profession in Fiji 
The legal profession of Fiji is regulated under the Legal Practitioners Decree 2009. The power sits with the Chief Registrar, who in turn acts under the direction of the Chief Justice. This means that the legal profession and the judiciary are under the powers of the Chief Justice. The position of Chief Justice is clearly the most powerful position in Fiji.

The Head of the Legal Practitioners Unit cannot be independent as they are under the direction of the Chief Registrar and the Public Service Commission. This represents a complete lack of independence of legal profession oversight. 
When I raised this issue I was terminated and upon my attempted to return to work, prior to being notified of my termination, I was unlawfully arrested and detained at Nadi Airport and escorted onto the first plane back to Sydney. This was done under Orders of the High Court. 

In NSW the Legal Profession is oversighted by the Office of the Legal Services Commission. This is an independent body with powers to investigate and institute disciplinary proceedings. The Office of the LSC is answerable to Parliament alone. Not like Fiji, where the legal profession is regulated by the Chief Registrar who is answerable to, guess who, the Chief Justice.

In NSW, disciplinary proceedings against the legal profession are prosecuted by the OLSC and taken before members of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal. The members of the ADT are independent and not judicial officers per se.

In Fiji, the Chief Registrar is the prosecutor and the Independent Legal Services Commission (ILSC) is akin to the ADT. Sections 84-98 of this decree establish the ILSC. Section 85 states:

Appointment of Commissioner 
85.—(1) The Commissioner shall be appointed by the President, on the advice of the Attorney-General.

(2) The Commissioner must be a person who is qualified to be a judge under section 15 of the Administration of Justice Decree 2009. 
(3) In advising the President as to the person to be appointed as Commissioner pursuant to subsection (1), the Attorney-General must be satisfied that the person—
 (a) is familiar with the nature of the legal system and legal practice in Fiji; and
 (b) possesses appropriate qualities of independence, integrity and fairness.

(4) The President may appoint a person who is not a citizen of Fiji as the Commissioner. 
(5) The Commissioner may be appointed either on a part-time or full-time basis. 

Note section 85(3)(b) above. It is a prerequisite that the Commissioner be independent. In Fiji the Commissioner is also a high Court judge who is under the direction of, guess who, the Chief Justice. He cannot be deemed to be independent. Remember, justice should not only be done, it should be seen to be done. This very fact is an offence to the basic principles of justice.

All of the ILSC’s decisions will be appealable on the basis that the Commissioner is not independent. There may be some very large damages claims made if and when a new government is formed.

Conclusion 
The judiciary, the legal profession and the ILSC are all under the direct or indirect control of the Chief Justice. This is a dangerous precedent. Justice cannot be done in Fiji until this is remedied. How it came to be like this can only be answered by the Attorney General and the Chief Justice.

I will not provide details of the despicable treatment I received at the hands of the (acting) Chief Registrar, Mohammed Saneem. ( This is the same person who will not accept legal writs against the FNFP from pensioners who have been defrauded ) I will not give details of the evidence I gathered that would warrant the laying of criminal charges against Mr Saneem and Commissioner Madigan. I have alerted the relevant Fijian authorities of these matters. It is not a matter for me. My story will never be told. I gave an undertaking to that effect. 
I pray that JUSTICE may one day come to Fiji. 

Mr Greg Bullard
Former Head of the Legal Practitioners Unit
(8/10/12 to 9/11/12)
Fiji’s shortest ever serving Resident Magistrate