Fiji Times...page 4

Got some sad-ish news today. Our good friend Giselle will be leaving on Fri to return to Winnipeg. Her Mother has taken a bad fall and broke her hip. She also has a heart aneurism which makes operating difficult in successful terms. She will be leaving permanently on Friday to determine with her siblings a DNR for their Mother. She doesn’t want to leave her husband Gary here as they were only just married in January and isn’t looking forward to the 2 months apart until his notice is up at work. Neither one wants to leave Fiji this early (even though we all spend a lot of time yawing about the politics here and the garbage – that’s kinda the same thing hey?!) Well, we want Giselle to be with her family for the decision making and hopefully some comfort for her Mom. But, we want Gary and Giselle to stay here. They are the only ones we trust to look after our kids. They are our best friends here and quite possibly, anywhere. They are a genuine couple and we enjoy their company. They will be missed.

On the news pages, the man who abducted a tourist couple last week has been sentenced to 20 years jail and caning. Not to sure if this is caning for 20 years or just once or monthly or what…In the country where time is NOT if the essence they sure found this guy guilty fast. The gov’t like to keep it’s tourist quotient up and the reputation it has for valuing its tourists up as well. I think they just like to keep the ‘rep’ up as the human value doesn’t really jive. Here’s why I think that. On Page 4 of the Fiji Times, (the above news story was from page 1) a man who pleaded guilty to murder and robbery has his lawyer asking for leniency as “he feels haunted by his actions” and “he has 2 small kids and a wife”!!! His murder consisted of stabbing a German businessman in the face until he was dead and then robbing the wife, with the help of 1 in the house and 2 on lookout. His lawyer doesn’t like the 15 year jail term his client is looking at and is requesting leniency…ohh poor guy, feels haunted because he stabbed a man in the face until he was dead…I wonder what the deceased mans wife is haunted by. The human value doesn’t match. 15 years and less for brutal murder and robbery while the man who assaulted and raped somebody gets 20 years, right off the bat oh yeah, don’t forget the added caning. Who gets that?