Due to blanket coverage, we have all been watching the Raoul Moat drama unfold to its conclusion where he blew his own head off.
To me that is a satisfactory conclusion, the less nutters we have running around armed with guns blasting at policemen and ex-girlfriends the better. It was only by a sheer fluke that out of the 3 people he shot, only one died.
Now it seems that the police are being blamed for shooting him with a taser which caused him to either spasm and pull the trigger of the gun tucked under his own chin or made up his mind to do what he had been threatening to do anyway. Either way, good. He was lucky to have been negotiated with for 6 hours before something happened. If the police had taken him out the second they saw him it would have been justified.
What does astound me is the thousands of people who have signed up to a memorial Facebook site that refers to him as legend.
What goes on in the minds of these people? He was a killer and was going to kill again if he had the chance.
He had plenty of time to surrender but chose not too. Well done the Police and if you are one of those who see him as a legend or condone his actions, you are an idiot.
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Monday, 5 July 2010
DNA database
Something that drives some people crazy is the idea of the Government or the police keeping databases on the public. I know that the Government departments do not have a great record on keeping these things secure, the Inland Revenue managed to lose a whole database of 25m taxpayers a few years ago and they always seem to be leaving laptops and DVD's in the back of taxis or on trains.
The new Government have decided to back down on the idea of a DNA database and i think that is a shame because if it was down to me, i would expand it to include everyone.
Just this week a murderer was caught for a crime committed a few years ago using DNA and this seems to be becoming a more regular occurrence. It has also cleared innocent people who have been wrongly jailed.
Of course the crimes can only be solved if the DNA of a suspect is on the database otherwise it is back to old fashioned detective work.
If there was a secure DNA database of everyone in the country, crimes would be quickly solved and we would be almost certain that we had the right person standing in the dock.
It seems a waste of an opportunity but the concerns are how secure it would be and if it would be used for other purposes such as profiling or details sold on by dodgy coppers looking to make a quick quid to more shady areas. There is also the problem of DNA being planted that could cause problems but a bit of police work should be able to eliminate most of these cases.
If this can somehow be secured by limiting access or fragmenting the database so nobody has access to all of it, then i would fully support expanding it to include everyone here.
The new Government have decided to back down on the idea of a DNA database and i think that is a shame because if it was down to me, i would expand it to include everyone.
Just this week a murderer was caught for a crime committed a few years ago using DNA and this seems to be becoming a more regular occurrence. It has also cleared innocent people who have been wrongly jailed.
Of course the crimes can only be solved if the DNA of a suspect is on the database otherwise it is back to old fashioned detective work.
If there was a secure DNA database of everyone in the country, crimes would be quickly solved and we would be almost certain that we had the right person standing in the dock.
It seems a waste of an opportunity but the concerns are how secure it would be and if it would be used for other purposes such as profiling or details sold on by dodgy coppers looking to make a quick quid to more shady areas. There is also the problem of DNA being planted that could cause problems but a bit of police work should be able to eliminate most of these cases.
If this can somehow be secured by limiting access or fragmenting the database so nobody has access to all of it, then i would fully support expanding it to include everyone here.
Sunday, 4 July 2010
I think i probably am a lefty
It has been mentioned on quite a few occasions whilst blogging and littering other sites with comments that i am one of those lefty types.
This may be true, i don't really know, because i'm not completely sure what a lefty or righty type is.
I ask my wife who is much more up on these things but after the fifth time of me asking to dumb it down a tad she is called away by an urgent call on her mobile. Strange how i never actually heard it ring.
As usual, i resort to the internet for answers and what i discover is that the left and right date from the days of the French pre-revolution days where everyone sat to the right of the King wanted to keep things as they were and everyone who sat to the left wanted to change it.
Not sure where i would sit if i was within the vicinity of royalty, probably whichever side gave me the best angle to throw rotten fruit at them.
After much reading my mind finally got to grips with this left and right thing, i think.
Basically, the left want what is best for the whole while the right want what is best for the individual.
The left include environmentalists, pacifists and Guardian readers. The right have royalists, religionists and Daily Mail readers.
The main difference seems to be that the left put down the stick and wave around carrots while the right swing the stick and make juice from the carrots.
The right had Hitler and the left Stalin as the leaders both try and brush under the carpet which makes a mockery of the rights religious credentials and the lefts wanting to do what is best for the majority.
Looking at the evidence i agree that i am easily one of those lefty types. I want to see things change towards a more fairer society and less of this divisive greedy attitude where the individual self gratification comes before everything else.
I am left wondering why would anyone want to be on the right? I am sure there are some well hidden good traits but you right wing guys do seem to come off sounding horribly selfish.
This may be true, i don't really know, because i'm not completely sure what a lefty or righty type is.
I ask my wife who is much more up on these things but after the fifth time of me asking to dumb it down a tad she is called away by an urgent call on her mobile. Strange how i never actually heard it ring.
As usual, i resort to the internet for answers and what i discover is that the left and right date from the days of the French pre-revolution days where everyone sat to the right of the King wanted to keep things as they were and everyone who sat to the left wanted to change it.
Not sure where i would sit if i was within the vicinity of royalty, probably whichever side gave me the best angle to throw rotten fruit at them.
After much reading my mind finally got to grips with this left and right thing, i think.
Basically, the left want what is best for the whole while the right want what is best for the individual.
The left include environmentalists, pacifists and Guardian readers. The right have royalists, religionists and Daily Mail readers.
The main difference seems to be that the left put down the stick and wave around carrots while the right swing the stick and make juice from the carrots.
The right had Hitler and the left Stalin as the leaders both try and brush under the carpet which makes a mockery of the rights religious credentials and the lefts wanting to do what is best for the majority.
Looking at the evidence i agree that i am easily one of those lefty types. I want to see things change towards a more fairer society and less of this divisive greedy attitude where the individual self gratification comes before everything else.
I am left wondering why would anyone want to be on the right? I am sure there are some well hidden good traits but you right wing guys do seem to come off sounding horribly selfish.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
(Sometimes) Getting away with murder
Two stories on successive pages in the newspaper today. The first makes you despair for what goes on in the seats of power and the other to restore a bit of the faith you lost reading the first story.
Story one is the Liberty medal being awarded to Tony Blair by the American National Constitutional Center for his role in "bringing liberty to people around the world".
Bill Clinton is to present the Award and said: "It was a privilege to work with my friend Tony Blair to help end 30 years of sectarian violence and broker a lasting peace in Northern Ireland (he never, John Major did) to stop the killing in and mass exodus from Kosovo (backed the KLF who started the killing and tried the same trick in Montenegro until told to stop by NATO), and to develop policies that would improve living conditions for people in both our countries (US & UK are bigger terrorist targets than ever).
For a Prime Minister directly responsible for more deaths than any other post-war Prime Minister, the award of another bauble from a country responsible for the most deaths of any post-war country, he must feel very proud.
The second story to restore my faith that we are not all mad is the five peace campaigners who caused £180,000 damage to an arms factory supplying Israel with military equipment and was cleared by the judge under the ruling that they had committed an offence to prevent a more serious crime.
The five's defense was that they had acted to prevent further Israeli war crimes after three weeks of Israel attacks on Gaza last January. A UN investigation later accused Israel of War Crimes in their Gaza attacks and the jury agreed that they had a lawful excuse and set them free.
Two stories with one that shows you can actually get away with murder if you are big and strong enough, get a medal for it actually, and the other that shows no matter how big and strong you may be, the small and powerless can sometimes stop you getting away with murder.
Story one is the Liberty medal being awarded to Tony Blair by the American National Constitutional Center for his role in "bringing liberty to people around the world".
Bill Clinton is to present the Award and said: "It was a privilege to work with my friend Tony Blair to help end 30 years of sectarian violence and broker a lasting peace in Northern Ireland (he never, John Major did) to stop the killing in and mass exodus from Kosovo (backed the KLF who started the killing and tried the same trick in Montenegro until told to stop by NATO), and to develop policies that would improve living conditions for people in both our countries (US & UK are bigger terrorist targets than ever).
For a Prime Minister directly responsible for more deaths than any other post-war Prime Minister, the award of another bauble from a country responsible for the most deaths of any post-war country, he must feel very proud.
The second story to restore my faith that we are not all mad is the five peace campaigners who caused £180,000 damage to an arms factory supplying Israel with military equipment and was cleared by the judge under the ruling that they had committed an offence to prevent a more serious crime.
The five's defense was that they had acted to prevent further Israeli war crimes after three weeks of Israel attacks on Gaza last January. A UN investigation later accused Israel of War Crimes in their Gaza attacks and the jury agreed that they had a lawful excuse and set them free.
Two stories with one that shows you can actually get away with murder if you are big and strong enough, get a medal for it actually, and the other that shows no matter how big and strong you may be, the small and powerless can sometimes stop you getting away with murder.
Monday, 28 June 2010
Why we need another system
From Wikipedia: Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned; supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments are determined mainly by private decisions in the free market, rather than through a planned economy; and profit is distributed to owners who invest in businesses.
Capitalism has obviously pushed us on a long way and it is hard to argue that society has not benefited from it, the poor of our grandparents day were many times worse off than the poor today.
What seems to have happened though is that Capitalism has run its course. We have the infrastructure in place for law and order, health, education, employment and welfare. All we seem to be doing now is rearranging the furniture and tinkering with the edges. Capitalism has run its course and now it just seems to be turning in on itself.
As the description states, the system is privately owned and what this means is that making a profit is the driving force. As we have seen in the recent banking crisis, the need to make larger profits drives people to take bigger risks which results in ever bigger crashes. The utility firms, well aware that people are struggling to pay their bills, continue to raise their prices. No sympathy if you cannot afford to pay, they just cut you off or have you up in a court of law threatening prison in the case of the tv license.
The case in America where a privately run youth prison was paying a judge to incarcerate young offenders was a stunning example of how the rush to make a profit precedes any thought of doing what is right for the people it is supposedly being run for. An extreme example granted but an example of the ruthlessness of a company and a judge that had no consideration for the lives they ruined.
The main criticism of Communism is that people wouldn't share or do their part
but is what we have now, where companies can ride roughshod over what is best for society, any better? No sharing there, if you can't pay for it then you go without no matter if its electric, food or water.
BP is much in the news recently and they are serial offenders in bad business practises bought about by trying to cut corners to raise their profits.
The recession has led to mass unemployment through no fault of there own who now find themselves at the welfare office while the public face huge cuts and the financial markets that caused them, get handed billions to prop them up and are back to making huge profits and paying themselves obscene bonuses.
Capitalism was a force for good but it has outlived it usefulness.
There are people literally dying because they cannot afford to buy medicine or the health system is having to ration drugs because the pharmaceutical companies charge such hefty prices.
I don't know what we can replace it with, that is for the politicians to work out, but we need a new system to sustain what we have because we have moved into a phase where profit trumps everything, including lives, and that's not a good place to be.
Capitalism has obviously pushed us on a long way and it is hard to argue that society has not benefited from it, the poor of our grandparents day were many times worse off than the poor today.
What seems to have happened though is that Capitalism has run its course. We have the infrastructure in place for law and order, health, education, employment and welfare. All we seem to be doing now is rearranging the furniture and tinkering with the edges. Capitalism has run its course and now it just seems to be turning in on itself.
As the description states, the system is privately owned and what this means is that making a profit is the driving force. As we have seen in the recent banking crisis, the need to make larger profits drives people to take bigger risks which results in ever bigger crashes. The utility firms, well aware that people are struggling to pay their bills, continue to raise their prices. No sympathy if you cannot afford to pay, they just cut you off or have you up in a court of law threatening prison in the case of the tv license.
The case in America where a privately run youth prison was paying a judge to incarcerate young offenders was a stunning example of how the rush to make a profit precedes any thought of doing what is right for the people it is supposedly being run for. An extreme example granted but an example of the ruthlessness of a company and a judge that had no consideration for the lives they ruined.
The main criticism of Communism is that people wouldn't share or do their part
but is what we have now, where companies can ride roughshod over what is best for society, any better? No sharing there, if you can't pay for it then you go without no matter if its electric, food or water.
BP is much in the news recently and they are serial offenders in bad business practises bought about by trying to cut corners to raise their profits.
The recession has led to mass unemployment through no fault of there own who now find themselves at the welfare office while the public face huge cuts and the financial markets that caused them, get handed billions to prop them up and are back to making huge profits and paying themselves obscene bonuses.
Capitalism was a force for good but it has outlived it usefulness.
There are people literally dying because they cannot afford to buy medicine or the health system is having to ration drugs because the pharmaceutical companies charge such hefty prices.
I don't know what we can replace it with, that is for the politicians to work out, but we need a new system to sustain what we have because we have moved into a phase where profit trumps everything, including lives, and that's not a good place to be.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Brit running Australia
Unless we are bowling at them or touching down a rugby ball behind their posts, i don't tend to take much notice of Australia. It's all the way over there and i have never really forgiven them for Paul Hogan and those god awful Crocodile Dundee films. I did have a brief flirtation with Neighbours in the late 80's and Prisoner Cell Block H but otherwise i largely ignore the place.
By all accounts they feel equally neutral towards us which makes it even more sweeter that a Brit is now running their country. As Alf Stewart would say, you great flamin' galahs.
It's far too boring to read about but the jist is the Welsh woman knifed her Prime Minster boss in the back and took his job and now sits on a throne probably made of old Castlemaine XXXX tins ruling the roost over the Aussies.
Back in the day we had to fight wars to impose Brits as rulers on a nation, now it is much more civilised.
Her first act should be to bring Joe Mangle and Des Clark back into Neighbours and then probably do something about Australians chronic water shortages.
Seems that the Aussies won't be ditching the Queen anytime soon with a Brit running things and if she wants to come and pick up the Minogue sisters she is welcome. Leave Rolf Harris though, i like him.
By all accounts they feel equally neutral towards us which makes it even more sweeter that a Brit is now running their country. As Alf Stewart would say, you great flamin' galahs.
It's far too boring to read about but the jist is the Welsh woman knifed her Prime Minster boss in the back and took his job and now sits on a throne probably made of old Castlemaine XXXX tins ruling the roost over the Aussies.
Back in the day we had to fight wars to impose Brits as rulers on a nation, now it is much more civilised.
Her first act should be to bring Joe Mangle and Des Clark back into Neighbours and then probably do something about Australians chronic water shortages.
Seems that the Aussies won't be ditching the Queen anytime soon with a Brit running things and if she wants to come and pick up the Minogue sisters she is welcome. Leave Rolf Harris though, i like him.
Friday, 25 June 2010
More Ponce's needed
The chances of England winning the World Cup have dropped like Ronaldo in the penalty area after we finished second in the group and find ourselves on the tough side of the draw.
Now we find ourselves facing what the British press are contractually obliged to call the Hun or Fritz and to mention the second World War whenever possible.
The group stages of the competition are always tactical and slow but now we are in the knockout stage, things will get interesting.
I have been impressed with Chile's ability to kick seven bells out of the opposition and one of the worst offenders is called Ponce who Wigan are looking at signing apparently which means the fans will have to find a new nickname for Charles N'Zogbia to avoid any confusion.
One feature of this World Cup has been the downfall of the European teams and the rise of the South Americans.
France and Italy who contested the last final, have both been sent packing along with 5 other Europeans while every South American team has made it out of the group stage.
It would be ungracious to suggest the venue has favoured the South Americans, they have just been better and deserve there places in the final 16. I strongly suspect the winners will come from either Argentina or Brazil but i would love to see one of the unfancied teams like Japan, Paraguay or South Korea take it.
As for England, i'd just like us to take a lead from Chile and get stuck in a bit more because what we need is a big Ponce in the heart of our defence. Over to you John Terry. the biggest Ponce we have.
Now we find ourselves facing what the British press are contractually obliged to call the Hun or Fritz and to mention the second World War whenever possible.
The group stages of the competition are always tactical and slow but now we are in the knockout stage, things will get interesting.
I have been impressed with Chile's ability to kick seven bells out of the opposition and one of the worst offenders is called Ponce who Wigan are looking at signing apparently which means the fans will have to find a new nickname for Charles N'Zogbia to avoid any confusion.
One feature of this World Cup has been the downfall of the European teams and the rise of the South Americans.
France and Italy who contested the last final, have both been sent packing along with 5 other Europeans while every South American team has made it out of the group stage.
It would be ungracious to suggest the venue has favoured the South Americans, they have just been better and deserve there places in the final 16. I strongly suspect the winners will come from either Argentina or Brazil but i would love to see one of the unfancied teams like Japan, Paraguay or South Korea take it.
As for England, i'd just like us to take a lead from Chile and get stuck in a bit more because what we need is a big Ponce in the heart of our defence. Over to you John Terry. the biggest Ponce we have.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
American ExxonMobil due ass kicking
David Cameron had better put on his best ass kicking boots because in a delicious turn of events, American ExxonMobil has been polluting our pristine shores in Fareham with oil. Granted BP is dumping 40,000 barrels a day into the Gulf of Mexico and American ExxonMobil leaked 20 barrels from a ship into the sparkling Solent, but it's the principle and in echoes of Florida, we have had to drop containment booms and dispersant's into the sea to protect the South Coast.
Summon head of American ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, to the Commons and let's give him a grilling over how he will clean up the two miles of previously gleaming Hampshire coastline. If we can wheel in a few members of Parliament to douse themselves in oil and heckle him at the same time more the better.
American ExxonMobil has said it apologised for the "regrettable incident" and are "working with the local authorities concerned, to clear up the oil as quickly as possible".
Rex had better not be pictured swanning around on a yacht until every last stone and seagull is wiped clean and only then can he have his life back.
Monday, 21 June 2010
Keeping quiet on armed forces day
Ahead of Armed Forces Day, David Cameron has said the British public should express its appreciation of Britain's military more loudly and more proudly.
I readily admit that they do a job that i wouldn't do but i do find myself in a bit of a bind about how i feel about them in their present role.
I was strongly against the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions so feel it hypocritical of me to express my appreciation of them doing a job i was against them doing in the first place.
How can i say i disagree with you being there but well done anyway, i'm very proud of you. I can't do that.
Not that i agree with the people who berate them when they come back, i prefer to keep a dignified silence and appreciate the job they do, just not appreciate the job that they are presently doing.
It does feel slightly like the emotional blackmail that George W Bush and his cronies employed against the American people with the 'if you are not with us, you are against us' mentality thrown around at the start of the Iraq invasion.
I'm not buying into that from our Government, the military was not in Iraq to keep us safe in our beds. Inquiry after inquiry has hammered that point home and we did not go into Afghanistan for any other reason than to punish the Taliban for not handing over Bin Laden. The former owner of this blog has pointed out many times the deal made where his handover would mean the Taliban would be left safely in power.
I'm not going to be waving my flag and applauding 'our boys' next week and i won't be waving a placard asking how many kids they killed today either. I will be thinking brave boys doing the wrong job in places they shouldn't be.
I readily admit that they do a job that i wouldn't do but i do find myself in a bit of a bind about how i feel about them in their present role.
I was strongly against the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions so feel it hypocritical of me to express my appreciation of them doing a job i was against them doing in the first place.
How can i say i disagree with you being there but well done anyway, i'm very proud of you. I can't do that.
Not that i agree with the people who berate them when they come back, i prefer to keep a dignified silence and appreciate the job they do, just not appreciate the job that they are presently doing.
It does feel slightly like the emotional blackmail that George W Bush and his cronies employed against the American people with the 'if you are not with us, you are against us' mentality thrown around at the start of the Iraq invasion.
I'm not buying into that from our Government, the military was not in Iraq to keep us safe in our beds. Inquiry after inquiry has hammered that point home and we did not go into Afghanistan for any other reason than to punish the Taliban for not handing over Bin Laden. The former owner of this blog has pointed out many times the deal made where his handover would mean the Taliban would be left safely in power.
I'm not going to be waving my flag and applauding 'our boys' next week and i won't be waving a placard asking how many kids they killed today either. I will be thinking brave boys doing the wrong job in places they shouldn't be.
Thursday, 17 June 2010
To kill a mockingbird revisited
When i was at school i enjoyed reading but as i entered my teenage years and i discovered girls, music and other more interesting things, the books were left behind. It wasn't until i met my wife and her huge collection of books that my reading flame got rekindled.
Among her collection of classic books was 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which i first read aged around 15 because i had to in order to pass English Literature. It didn't mean much to me at the time, pleasant enough story about a lawyer defending a coloured guy in the Deep South of America, but 10 years later, with more mature eyes, i picked it up and when i finally put it down again i had decided it was one of the greatest books i have ever read.
This month it is fifty years old and it is rightly being flouted as one of the best books of the last century although that is a tough list to be placed head of.
My rejuvenated reading bug has seen me drag out some proper classics from the many book shelves that clog up our home, books that i had read previously but seem to have not really read at all.
1984, Huckleberry Finn, Frankenstein, Grapes of Wrath and Last of the Mohican's all seem to contain underlying messages and commentary that i just never got first time around.
It is good to read when you are younger but in my case i was just reading them and not actually 'reading' them at all but maybe it's just something that was wasted on a teenager and in my case, To Kill A Mockingbird needed a more mature and life experienced brain to really understand.
Among her collection of classic books was 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which i first read aged around 15 because i had to in order to pass English Literature. It didn't mean much to me at the time, pleasant enough story about a lawyer defending a coloured guy in the Deep South of America, but 10 years later, with more mature eyes, i picked it up and when i finally put it down again i had decided it was one of the greatest books i have ever read.
This month it is fifty years old and it is rightly being flouted as one of the best books of the last century although that is a tough list to be placed head of.
My rejuvenated reading bug has seen me drag out some proper classics from the many book shelves that clog up our home, books that i had read previously but seem to have not really read at all.
1984, Huckleberry Finn, Frankenstein, Grapes of Wrath and Last of the Mohican's all seem to contain underlying messages and commentary that i just never got first time around.
It is good to read when you are younger but in my case i was just reading them and not actually 'reading' them at all but maybe it's just something that was wasted on a teenager and in my case, To Kill A Mockingbird needed a more mature and life experienced brain to really understand.
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