New Zealand Vice News
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 3:01 PM

A generous Vice Squad reader -- no doubt perplexed by the sudden abandonment of even the pretense of blogging here at VS -- sends us this story about a case being dismissed from a New Zealand court. The case sprung from a tragedy in which a 19-year old man died after injuring his head while playing "Bullrush" in a bar. The person who served alcohol to the group in the bar was charged with four counts, including serving alcohol to an intoxicated person and allowing disorderly conduct. The judge threw out the case, citing a lack of evidence of intoxication and the norm of barroom horseplay. (The judge apparently referred to "shenanigans," not "horseplay".)

Also in New Zealand, where brothel prostitution has recently been decriminalized, a high school yearbook has been suppressed for its vicious content: "The book features students' hopes about what they would like to do when they are older - including suggestions such as brothel worker, drug lord, dope dealer, dope packer, stripper, pimp, beneficiary, druggie and 'living on the street'." High schoolers - what a bunch of cards! Fortunately, a vigilant parent raised the alarm, and the book was recalled after just one day of release. But the incident provided an opening for those who are protecting social standards:

The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards said today in a statement the Prostitution Reform Bill, which was passed earlier this year and decriminalised prostitution, created a climate in which students viewed prostitution, pimping and stripping as attractive and viable forms of legal work.

The yearbook probably represented the values of many young people, it said.

"Society must recognise that such values do not emerge from a vacuum. The glamorisation of drug-taking, sexual promiscuity, crime and sexual deviancy, in all forms of the media, has taken its toll on our children and young people," the statement said.

It said MPs and censors needed to be more responsible in their decisions.

For those who are interested in applying to the school, here's the relevant link. The motto on the school's home page?: 'Challenging all students to reach their maximum potential in a safe and caring environment.' Well, their socially-approved maximum potential.

Perhaps, like Vice Squad, you have no idea what Bullrush is. I wouldn't recommend the OED on this one; instead, here's a 14-page pdf that describes more variants than you could possibly care to know about (including "creeping up" variants -- yuk.) It turns out that Bullrush is similar to Red Rover; maybe it's a rounders/baseball sort of thing.

Labels: alcohol, New Zealand, prostitution, teens