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I in no way condone this, but it certainly looks that way, ja? It seems that all one has to do to become unburdened of taxes, bills and basically any other public expectation, and to live a life of relative luxury in the process is to commit a serious enough crime to have oneself placed behind bars. And, to top it off, behave well and you'll be out in no time, sometimes even having the bonus of a completely new identity, a press gag order and with no records of past misdeeds. What got me all wound up about this? Only the new World Class Facility, World Class I tell you, that's due to be built. Now, I have no objection to building more prisons, heaven knows we need more of them so less people get off scot free or with ludicrously shortened sentences, but the extent to which these people are treated like anything but the criminals they are is ridiculous. These new 'prisons' have all the technology of the modern age, nice furnished cells, satellite TV, internet, games consoles, even decent (though unpaid) jobs for their in-mates to take their minds off their crimes (and the victims they left behind). Talk about cutting crime and making those responsible pay, and this is what you get? It's enough to drive anyone mad. Moving on to better things, I went shooting today, and whereas the first 30 shots weren't that good with 8 dropped points, the next 30 were better, and I even adopted a straighter and more streamlined position towards the end. I'll have to test this to see if there is a negative impact from movement resulting from my breathing, but if this holds I feel it'll really make a difference to my final scores. Apparently my accent has reached the stage where even my mum commented on why I was talking so strangely, and a woman from Nationwide's Head Office I was talking to on the phone asked me if I was Scandinavian. Maybe I've been listening to too much Swedish radio, or maybe it was the nine hour long audio book that was mostly in Norwegian. I'm not sure if that, or the fact I understood most of it without ever having properly studied Norwegian is more concerning! Oh well, at least I know, with absolute certainty, the correct form for "Stay still or I will shoot you". I'm not sure just when I might have cause to use this fantastic tidbit of linguistic prowess, but as they say, another string to my bow, just another string. Oh, not that it makes much difference as I don't know how many people read this (a hit counter, now isn't that a wonderful idea?), but apologies if I've been rather snappish with anyone of late. It's totally unintentional, but I'm just feeling really on edge about something, but I can't quite put my finger on what, exactly, it is. Hopefully it'll pass and I'll be my own cheerful, maddeningly calm and polite self again. | |
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Sometimes I truly despair about the UK we live in. And honestly seeing some of the news articles out today, it's not without good reason. Stick with me, and I'll explain.Should pedophiles go to jail? - Now agree with me or don't, but I'm firmly of the opinion that anyone who attacks another person in this way of their own free will, no matter what the circumstances deserves nothing more than the utmost contempt. It's not like being drunk, which is socially acceptable and has limits, pedophilia does not and surely cannot possibly have any degree of tolerance. But ok, let's leave that for the moment. Let's say that we are going to help anyone with such an affliction. Who's going to pay for it? Are you (if you're a taxpayer) going to calmly sit back and accept being told that your bills are going up in order to raise money to pay for psychiatric care for someone who raped or could possibly rape a young child, bearing in mind that child could just as well have been your own daughter? And what of the victims? Are they going to be told they must contribute towards their attacker's treatment? That's double standards if ever there were. yes, we have a major problem with prison overcrowding. Yes, the whole system is a sham and mismanaged from the top right down to the grass roots. And that's where the problem lies. In this day and age of targets and quotas, courts are sending every Tom, Dick and Harry that pass through them to jail just to meet these targets, even though most of them have no need for it! Thus promptly leaving those who do need to be locked behind bars, key destroyed, never to see the light of day again able and at perfect liberty to roam the streets! Phew, that was a mouthful and I'm only just getting started. Donor show - a hoax! - Now this just defies logic. this was clearly a show that was intended to draw attention to a worthy cause, one which is important and which indeed costs many lives each year. and I think we can safely say it's done that remarkably well. I've spent time in the Netherlands and I can most assuredly say that Dutch society is amongst the friendliest and open-minded that there is. and yes, I say that as one who is a patriot and (most of the time) proud to be British. But with the fuss we are making over this, and indeed the only ones who are making such a fuss about it, we are certainly acting quite the opposite. No one died, no one lost anything, and indeed the only people who could have had a problem are those who were embarrassed about their condition - in which case they should have respectfully not entered on the show. All of the participants were forewarned about the fact that this was an act and not real, so they really have nothing to complain about. Indeed, many people, both experts, physicians and patients themselves have praised the show for drawing awareness to the fact that the shortage of kidney donors is a serious problem in the Netherlands and elsewhere. So why on earth can't we get off our high horses and get in touch with the rest of the world? Have we forgotten our manners? - And this. Ok, so I agree that society in general is less polite now than it was - even I've noticed it in the last ten years. The stress and faster pace of daily life now compared to then is probably a reasonable candidate for a cause, but nevertheless it shouldn't be. for example, I always make it a point to wish people a good day, be it to the driver whilst getting off the bus, the clerk at the local post office or even people on the phone when I'm about to hang up after the call, but usually I just get silence as a response, or if I'm lucky a grunt as acknowledgement. I try to do the same in my e-mails, it doesn't cost anything to be polite after all and the two seconds that it does take are well spent in my opinion. I've particularly noticed this phenomenen with stock brokers, with whom I've dealt a lot with recently. Whenever they call me with a trade recommendation, I'm always left feeling that they were trying to end the call as quickly as possible to get on with making even more money. And whereas I understand this is probably the case, is saying goodbye or wishing someone a nice day too much to ask to give a better impression of oneself? I compare people here (and let me just add that I'm by no means lumping every single person here into this category - there are plenty of polite persons out there), with people I've met on holiday, particularly in Europe, and the difference in mannerisms and attitude towards life is amazing - almost like night and day. They are so much more outgoing, friendly, welcoming and optimistic. One thing I do agree with is Louise's (see article linked above) view that the media in this country does contribute heavily towards people's attitudes. Most of the soaps (which I'm pleased to say I don't watch) portray life as gloomy, uninteresting and a general chore, and i do see this reflected in how people on the street go about their daily lives. People don't talk about the increased opportunities available to us now compared to in the past, they don't talk about what's good around them and they don't talk about the future and their plans for it. Instead they complain about everything that is wrong in the world, they complain that there is no hope for anything to improve, and they complain that there isn't a future to plan for or look forward to. And this does result in increased stress and other medical problems, and yes, to even more unpoliteness. So I urge everyone reading this. Take note, and let's start showing people that we don't have to have an attitude others are ashamed of, and that we can be just as proud of life as our fellow man around the world. Have a great day! H. | |
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patwaspotterfan's journal
