Another little news review
Quick edit… no apologies for length, but this chunky monkey of a post gets slightly political. Don’t worry, I’ll try to do a more typical discussion later.
Well, it’s a slow Saturday- the day that God decreed that men without kids should loaf around the house all day, reading the paper and drinking tea. For the record, all went well with that rule, until the Devil invented Ikea and shopping, thus damning such men to a life of infernal torment as penetance for having girlfriends.
That’s by-the-by however. i think it only right to share another little news review with you dear readers. And yet again, I will start with the pinacle of British Journalism: The Sun
There are 2 fantastic wildlife stories to begin with. The first is the capture of a 7 metre long python in India, who has eaten 11 guard dogs in an orchard. As a snake lover myself, I quite like the idea of an 11 stone python slowly picking off the dogs. I doubt he really needed the dogs to guard the place, if he had a snake that big there.
The next animal tail is slightly less jolly. Poor little colobus monkey Sokojoo has been abandoned by its mother in a Cornwall zoo, because it has the hiccups.
Anyway, enough of that. The main story in the paper today is about “Paedo number 2″ to avoid a prison sentence because of overcrowding in jails across the land. Obviously, The Sun is outraged by this, and reading the article you would think that the Government and the judges were pimping kids to sex offenders up and down the length of the country.
I quote “But other judges were accused of being opportunist and using Reid’s plea to jail only the worst-case criminals as an excuse to go SOFT on other menaces to society.” This is, frankly, bollocks. Having had the experience of a range of judges (including the legendary Judge Fish in Minshull Street, Manchester, described by the Sun as the most lenient judge ever by the tabloids last year), I can offer first hand assurances to everyone that Judges are well aware of their duty to society. An illustration of this- if you or I were to be arrested having supplied a single wrap of heroin to an undercover police officer (street value 10 quid), you would be bloody fortunate if you got a prson sentence of less than 3 years. That is the level of punishment that anyone supplying Class A drugs will receive, even for a first offence. Does that sound soft?
The 2 “paedo” defendants who have supposedly avoided custody were both actually convicted of posessing indecent images of a child on their computers. I know this is a criminal offence, and I do understand the impact it has had on the unfortunate children who were victimised and photgraphed. However, neither of the men has directly harmed a child, nor do they present an immediate risk to the public.
Moreover, both defendants received suspended prison sentences. This means that if they fail to cooperate fully with the Probation Service (gobshites that they are), they will be back in Court and their prison sentences can be activated. For a period of 18 months, each of these men is at risk of being sent to prison for 6 months. Their sentences can also become active if they commit a further offence, no matter how minor. Considering one of these men claims that the pictures were on his computer when he bought it (a claim backed up by his wife), I think this sentence is actually appropriate.
The blame can’t easily be placed at the Government’s door either. Much as I would love to blame them, considering how they have brutally f*cked the legal aid system in the last year, Labour has actually created 20,000 prison places since it took over from the dirty Tory Party. The downside is that Labour have also created hundreds of new criminal offences (ironically enough including posession of indecent images of a minor), which has led to these places being filled as fast as they have been created. Yes more prisons are needed, as are more hospitals, more schools, more staff for every institution, and more money for criminal defence solicitors… but let’s just have the full picture before we kick off.
Of course we also had the typical comments from neighbours of the most recent offender to get a suspended sentence. One woman was worried “he could look through my window and see my son.” Seriously, if he was that much of a risk that he would see your kid and try and leap through the window, he would be inside prison. And I also think that his wife would have checked with Social Services to check it was ok for their young son to live in the same house as him. Do the comments of these people remind anyone else of Brass Eye? Have a look at this link to see what I mean. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_Eye#2001_paedophilia_special
Another neighbour says (presumably while looking for her pitchfork and arranging a lynch-mob) “What more serious offence can there be than paedophilia? It ruins a child’s life. It’s worrying he could be wandering around and looking at my child and others in the street. I want signs and photos of him and to put them around the area. People need to be aware of the risk.”
Perhaps the Sun is a little bit outraged at the moment because of someone who didn’t get a suspended prison sentence. Royal Editor of the News of the Screws… sorry, News of the World (the Sun’s sister paper)… will be spending 4 months in Her Majesty’s prison service, after he intercepted mobile phone calls from Prince Charles and his staff [which reminds me, I need to rant about the Royals at some point]. There is something pleasing about journalists going to prison for reporting on stuff that no-one really gives a toss about. Maybe it’s just me.
In other news, Jade Goodey is (rather sensibly) avoiding speaking to Herfordshire Police following the allegations of racial bullying. Is this really an “international incident”? Surely around the world, there are marginally more significant issues than some jumped-up eejit demonstrating how ignorant she is. As an ashamedly middle-class white bloke who has never really had to deal with any issue like this, I am not sure what to make of it. I find myself thinking that it falls just short of racism… and is in fact just showing how stupid and brainless Jade, Jo, and Danielle really are. i freely admit I may be wrong, and if there are any British-Asians who feel differently, please let me know. However, my opinion is that it just shows the level of ignorance that sadly exists in the country.
Changing subject yet again, St Bono of Dublin has apparently tried to put pressure on Tony Blair about aid to Africa, and trying to ensure that the promises are met. I am a huge U2 fan, and I do think it’s good to see a musician trying to use his fame for a greater purpose than getting shagged. Unfortunately, I have to admit that Bono is becoming a parody of himself. If things continue at this rate, I will have to start “Bono Aid” in a few years. This will involve another cover-version of Do they know it’s Christmas, and a plea for donations to help purchase a crane and diving team to help extract him from his own arse.
Luckily though, we have the ultimate tabloid story today. How do we know it meets such high standards? Simple… it involves the word “bonking.” A nurse has been struck off the professional register after having sex… sorry, for “bonking TWO patients.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never genuinely used that word… it’s too much like being part of a Benny Hill sketch.
Anyway… this nurse got a warning after the first incident, then 2 years later, she went and did it again. Crazy. Apparently, she sent the bloke rude texts, called him, and had sex with him on several occasions. The chief of the Nursing and Midwifery Counsil said “The only sanction to protect the public is to remove her from the register.
Thank God that the public are now protected. My heart goes out to the poor bloke who was clearly abused by this nurse… each and every time he shagged her. If it was such an issue for him that he reported it, why did he go along with it???
Well, that’s about it I think.
Benny Hill is classic. And tell them to send that nurse across the pond to my neck of the woods, I could use a good shagging.