Young Drink Drivers.

Here in the UK it has been said that the number of young drink drivers make up a large percentage of the numbers who drink drive.

I personally have never drink and drive mainly because 1) I don't drink and 2) I cannot drive any more (through illness not because I was banned or anything). Still, joking aside, the fact that this particular age group are risking their and others lives is alarming, if not to be expected.

Expected? Yes. Why? What makes you say that?

I say that because, well, look how we, and especially the 'establishment' treat our young people. Almost daily over the last 10 or so years our young people have been bounced from pillar to post via legislation. Never before in this countries history have so many rules been aimed at a particular group as they have been in the last 10 years. The most high profile of these being the ASBO. They, the younger generation, are fighting back as only they can. By doing the very things The Law has told them they cannot do. This trait has gone on back through the ages. The more rules one imposes the higher the figures against that rule will slew and the fact that there appears to be more of our young people doing dangerous things making the figures higher against them should never surprise anyone.

Those aged between 14 and 21 have always been a target as they are probably at their most unruly at that age. They are most certainly at the age when doing dangerous things or living on the edge, is seen as exciting and the 'establishment' via The Law has always tried to curb them and the more they try the harder this age group fights back.

One day, maybe but do not hold your breath, our Government will see the folly and fix it but until that unlikely event happens I blame the 'establishment' and The Law for every young person killed due to fact they made up some law or other aimed at curbing the young doing what the young will always do and that is fighting the rules.

By the way, if you reading this fit into this age group then please take note of the following. Do not drink and drive because you do not risk just your own life but the life's of those around you.

One can only give so much.

We all see it in the news almost daily. Cries for money or cast off clothing etc for some charity organisation or other. The sheer volume of organisations asking people to dip into their pockets to help everyone and everything all over the world can be so overwhelming that in the end people simply decide not to give at all.

My wife and I hit on a solution that works and has worked for us since we first go together.

My wife and I give money on a yearly basis to various charities. None in particular and not all are well known. Some of our friends call us insular because we refuse point blank to give to any charities that do not directly benefit children, adults and animals in this country (this country being Great Britain). Basically, we cover the whole spectrum as long as the help is distributed within this country. The only exception I have made to this over the years was the miners strike some years ago because I did not believe what they was doing at that time was right.

Back when I was a child my mother and grandmother always said that "Charity begins at home" and that comment has stuck with me into adulthood. My wife's parents and grandparents used to say the same to her and that has stuck with her too.

We were at one stage directly involved in the day to day running of a charity. We are that type of couple. We feel we that just because we refuse to offer help and monies to any needy cause not held within this country, and sure enough there are plenty of those, it does not make us bad people. If, as commented by some friends of ours, it makes us both insular then so be it. That is how we are and that is how we will continue.

We may not give a lot in the big scheme of things but at least we give which is more than can be said for many residents here.

Modern Perceptions?

Or Political Correctness ("PC") gone mad?

I am writing this commentary with the help of one my childhood friends who just happens to be of African origin. We became friends at primary school some 41 years ago, a time when England was English and the PC brigade did not exist so everyone got along just fine. Sure there was racial tension back then but apart from pockets here and there the majority of people from all areas of the world got along, mostly, just fine without the constant interference from busybodies such as the PC brigade.

I have 5 children (2 from my first marriage and 3 from my second), he has 6 children. He married a white girl and so if ideally placed to comment on such an emotive subject as racism.

In some areas of the UK they are reporting an increase in playground racism. My own 8 year old son was reported to the local authority for exactly that a while ago. His crime? He said "Black people suck". Now while the comment he made itself could be deemed wrong or even racist I am sure he said it in the same way a child of that age would say "Four eyes" to people who wear glasses or "Ginger haired people suck" or "Blonde hair people suck". You get the idea. Basically it was not a racist comment any more than the many 100's of comments chidren make, and will continue to make, daily.

I feel sure that in this modern climate of PC such comments, while the comments themselves are totally harmless, are what is being classed as playground racism and it is wrong.

Children will make such innocent comments without knowing the underlaying meaning. As they grow into adults they will learn that such comments, while not being wrong, are not to be said in public. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the perceptions of the PC brigade one thing that is often overlooked is that by tgging young children with the racism tag at such an early stage in the development cycle can do much more harm to that child than the person or child the comment was directed at.

Then we have the people of ethnic persuasion who's parents instill in their children that if the comment made is in any way a racist one then their child must report it. PC abuse is rife in this country.

The PC brigade have made things much much worse than they ever was before their existence.

Change.

On an almost daily basis we are barraged with changes to some legislation or other, Doesn't it feel like we are going through changes for changes sake?

Sure some changes are minute and will take years if not generations to filter through but look at the changes to our education system!

Very simply put.

The very system under which todays a future generations will be provided with a grounding for life and at its end, hopefully, a bunch of certificates which, again hopefully, will ensure a position with an employer. The system of the 3 R's (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, no, I do not get it either!), the very base level of our children's education has remained unchanged for years, centuries even. This culminated in a set of exams which if done at a sufficient levl gained status and credibility with employers.

Over time this system, which worked fine, was slowly changed until the mid 70's which thing settled down once more and both children and employers knew were they stood. Now, over the last 10 years or so of the current incumbent Labour government this status quo has slowly but surely been eroded with slight change after slight change. Until we reached a state where seemingly the basic premise of the 3R's are no longer relevant and the end certificates/qualifications are meaningless as to the child's skills.

I feel certain these changes are made, not for the benefit of our children's education but are changes for changes sake. I.E. They make the changes because they can.

Argh no. Make it stop!

I want to get off.

The seemingly never ending wrongs of the modern Western world is throwing my brain through a loop and I want it to stop. It won't stop, of course, as i am nobody, but it is seriously giving me headaches.

Let us take what seems an innocuous comment.

"So by all means, let's fight the efforts of Japan, Norway, and other states to bring back the depredations of commercial whaling."

On first reading that comment seems harmless, yes? Read it again then ask yourself when did a country become state? Oh sure the term may have been used before and often but in todays world the world replacing the word country with state is yet another scary facet to how They want you to think.

Lies, lies and more lies.

Back in the 1970's, and I wonder how many readers go back that far, we were constantly warned that we were heading for a new Ice Age and that we must prepare for what is in store. There were programs on TV telling us what was the best way to survive in an Ice covered world etc etc etc etc. Then suddenly this all changed from an impending Ice Age to Climate Change and worse, Global Warming.



Why?



I'll tell you my explanation. It changed because the vast majority of the people did not care. They went back to the drawing board and created something much more alarming and this time the people did buy it. Now we have a multi billion pound industry around Global Warming. Oh and Man is to blame thrown in for added effect.



Our world is dying. Of that there is no argument. It may take many thousands of years to eradicate Man but it will happen eventually. The weakest will die first as we are seeing with birds then death and extinction will come to all species. But, that scenario, with the exception of a few lower species, is many many years in our future.



The debate over Global Warming is huge with both sides giving their all to the debate but sadly the various governments around the world have by and large succeeded in duping the masses into thinking Global Warming is happening.



Myself I strongly believe that our world is going through one of its normal phases and that what Man has done is add a tiny minute bit to it in the great scheme of things. No matter what we do to curb Mans desire for power and trinkets, no matter what our collective governments do or claim to be doing, the end will come regardless.



Right now, it suits our governments to play with our heads but sooner or later the people of the world will rise up and unite in a revolt against the lies, lies and more lies.

Double Standards.

So, the debate over euthanasia took a nose dive in the UK with the defeat of the latest attempt to legalise euthanasia for the terminally ill in the House of Lords. Under the banner "The Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill" it was last defeated on 12 May 2006. That defeat has not stopped those in favour of euthanasia continuing to fight their fight. Even today they continue to put forward their case.



Because our staid government will not be seen to support such things those in favour of it have to rely on such as Lord Joffe who brough a private members bill. He has vowed to  reintroduce the bill at a later date.



And because this debate is one that touches the very core of our being the debate over whether it should or should not be allowed will rumble on and on until such a time as they do legalise it. It is legal in some EU countries already.



I saw my Grandmother slowly die with the Big C and it was not a pretty sight as she was slowly eaten away by this most horrible of diseases.  After she died I has a talk with my Grandfather who exclaimed that if he had been strong enough he would of ended her suffering long before the end. He also said that he had been selfish in that he wanted to keep her alive for as long as was possible "because I loved her". In those two comments from my Grandfather we can see the turmoil burning within him. The same turmoil I suspect those who would be given the chance to end their partners suffering early would have.



It is not a simple case of saying let us allow or disallow euthanasia. I have no idea what the bill mentioned above contains. What follows comes purely from my heart and head.



There should be safeguards in place to stop those killing their partners out of hate or because they got fed up of looking after them. There should be be safeguards over what drugs are allowed to be used and also it should be determined properly that a patient is going to die. One thing I do think should be done is there should be a signed consent form from the patient with their signature on it written whilst they were of sound mind.





However they decide it should be done, whenever they legalise it, one thing for sure is it will eventually be legalised.



My own personal thoughts on this subject is it should be allowed in certain circumstances.

Todays youth

Not all of them of course, as with all sections and groups there are good and bad.



However, there is a large number of teenagers who are quite simply out of control. Their parents generally have no idea what they are getting up to on any given night. They, the teenagers, destroy a lot of things in the public field that many others use just because. They probably have no reason for destroying stuff other than it seemed a good idea at the time.



The police are next to useless these days when things like this happen. They often times ignore whatever it is that has been done. ASBO's are useless draconian things that are often worn as a badge of pride.



We need to engage these disaffected teenagers and bring them back into the fold before they go totally off the rails in later life. Many will not, many will settle into a normal married life and have kids of their own who will once older probably do as their parents did. It is a said state of affairs and a circle that must be broken. How one would go about doing this is open to suggestion.



The majority of todays youth are good honest law abiding people. It is just that small faction that drags them all through the mud.

Means Steets.

Are they really?



My old Grandma, who died in 1982 aged 69, had a saying, one of many, that went "Violence, rapes, child abductions, any sort of crime really and premarital sex and children born out of wedlock etc etc. Infact, all the things that make the country bad are no more wide spread now than it was in my youth during the 1920's. It looks worse now because people are more aware. People are more aware because news travels faster and is more easily accessible by everyone. People are more willing to report minor crime so it looks worse when figures are compared"



And now we have high speed Internet added to the mix.



I don't know if she was right but if she was then the world we live in now can be no more violent than it was 80 years ago.



Food for thought in an age when CCTV is everywhere and the police have sweeping powers to arrest anyone for any thing and our law makers introduce evermore draconian laws.

Inequality

In our schools today our children are subject to all manner of pressures. Teachers themselves whilst part of the problem that affects our children are not rule makers in the sense that the government are. It is our government that is placing tremendous pressure on our school systems which in turn means headteachers are under pressure, which in turn means teachers are under pressure, which in turn means our children are under pressure.



Our primary school children are expected to adhere to adult values. They are no longer allowed to be children and make mistakes that children make. Our children are subject to tests that quite frankly do more harm than good in the long term. The tests our children take do nothing more than separate the good from the bad and as these tests start very early in their lives they are blighted early in their lives. The quality of teachers, from head teacher down, is lower now than it ever has been and this shows in our children's education.



There is now plans to  "help" preschool and primary school children with their talking. A new "Academy" school has just been build which does not have a play ground or play area. Granted this is not a primary school but it is another way of putting yet more pressure on our school children.



Children as young as 7 years old are expected to understand and act like adults. We are,  simply put, asking way too much of our children and whilst doing this they, the children, are missing out on being children.