Category Archives: The Informed Society

The Human Rights of a murderer

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Reading about the case of Learco Chindamo who is soon to be released from prison I can quite well understand the reasons for not deporting him. He came to this country at the age of five, he was born and raised here, he does not speak Italian, he is not Italian. I am less agitated by his so-called human rights than I am by the realisation that he is what he is because of us. It wasn’t Italy that made him a murderer, it was Britain. There is nothing to be gained by sending him to Italy. It might seem the modern equivalent of transportation but in those days convicts had no prospect of ever returning from Australia. These days travel is so cheap and our borders so open that he can return perfectly easily, so what’s the point.

The part I don’t understand though, is why is he being released at all? He brutally murdered a headmaster at his school. He has served just twelve years for taking a human life. The Home Office says he is still a danger to society. This is not about why isn’t he being deported, this should be about why is he being released? Murder should demand a very lengthy term in prison, “life” should be the norm and life really should mean life. Philip Lawrence’s murder shocked the nation at the time. But in the intervening years nothing has been done about the problem of juvenile delinquency. Our streets have become the playground for knife-wielding young hoodlums who seem to think they are living out some x-box fantasy in real life. They “blow away” those who get in their way. This problem is going to get a lot worse before politicians wake up to it and do something. When they do, it is going to take a generation to undo the damage already done.

Another skirmish in the Race Relations war

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I love the Sikhs. Of all the troubles we read about in today’s religion-obsessed world, none of them are caused by Sikhs. To my knowledge they stand for principles, loyalty, honour, family values and service to the community, plus whatever other qualities you can think to name. They have also served the British Crown loyally and valiantly for more than a century. You would think the Ministry of Defence would be delighted to be approached by leaders of the Sikh community with the suggestion of forming a Sikh regiment and the assurance they would have no trouble finding 700 willing volunteers. And the MoD were delighted. Delighted that is, until they spoke to the Commission for Racial Equality who vetoed the idea.

Sikh soldiers in the Indian Army

The CRE, which itself has a dreadfully racist record of employment, has a vested interest in perpetuating the race relations industry and saddling this country with insane policies. It is also highly selective in its approach. Saying “the creation of a separate regiment according to ethnicity would be segregation, which amounts to discrimination under the Race Relations Act” is to defy common sense. The British Army has for centuries formed regiments along ethnic lines, and why? Because they work. Society is entirely happy with the idea of the Irish Guards, the Scots Guards and the Welsh Guards. They take recruits on ethnic grounds from all across the UK. There is no conceivable reason why the Sikhs cannot do the same.

I hope common sense will prevail and Sikh leaders and the Ministry of Defence will decide to ignore the CRE and go ahead with this inspiring proposal.

The English Nazi movement

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Those of us who remember having proper history lessons will no doubt recognise the circumstances in which the Nazi party flourished in Germany. They pandered to popular outrage over the way the Treaty of Versailles was stripping the country and they directed their ire at the Jews. They rallied in their thousands with flags flying to hear ranting and hate-mongering. They wanted racial purity and the re-establishment of what they considered traditional German values.

Sound familiar? Today, we have a large body of opinion that deeply resents the European Union and all it is doing to emaciate this country and they direct their ire at Moslems and immigrants. Well I am in the former body of opinion but emphatically not in the latter. I also resent the way they have hijacked my flag and my values and claim them to belong to true Englishmen.

These people represent the worst of what this country is becoming. Krystal Nacht is not far off.

The riddle of the silver trophies

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I was in Corfu town recently, and in the park opposite Liston a company was staging a promotion for it’s wares. There was loud music, a troupe of dancing cheerleaders waving pom-poms, a giant video screen, and a collection of rigid raider speedboats. And on one of the speedboats was a row of fancy silver trophies. The public was milling around and I didn’t see any signs of security, which puzzled me a little. They would never get away with it in England, I thought, those trophies wouldn’t last five minutes before they were nicked.

Now, why is that I thought? The answer came to me quite quickly – they’re on an island, so where would the thieves dispose of their booty? A few more sips of beer and another thought came to me. The reason they wouldn’t get away with displaying valuables openly in England is that thieves have a whole support network. We have a criminal industry here. It’s probably the only growth industry we have. Stolen property is handed on from thief to fence and sold on in pubs and on eBay. What are we doing to break up that network?

There was an account of a court case a few years ago which I read with astonishment. An ‘alleged’ thief was caught red-handed with property he had stolen from a nearby house moments before. The copper saw him and nabbed him. However, the copper hadn’t actually seen the thief leaving the premises with the stolen property, so it couldn’t be proven conclusively that the thief was the culprit. He said he found it under a bush and didn’t know it was stolen property. So he got off.

Now I know about miscarriages of justice, and how many we’ve had, and how bad they have been. That’s the only reason I would never support the death penalty, which I actually agree with. I would not trust our judicial system not to make a mistake. But haven’t we gone too far the other way? Are we not setting too high a standard of proof before a conviction? Given the overcrowded prisons, that probably seems like a ridiculous question, but does anyone believe we are a law-abiding society any more? We’re losing this battle, aren’t we?

Does Blogging make you a better person?

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There has been some debate recently about freedom of speech, moderation, flame wars, leaving in a huff, learning to live with criticism, differences of opinion – a whole raft of aspects really. The most popular topic on the MyTelegraph blog site is – blogging. There seems to be very little sympathy however for the effete, the shrinking violet, the gentle soul. The attitude is if you can’t stand the heat you should get out of the kitchen. Me? I’ve been around the block a bit when it comes to blogging, and posting on USENET before that. How many of you even know what USENET is, never mind have used it? rec.humour.funny, remember it well, alt.flame, another cracker and rec.org.mensa, where I cut my teeth. It is certainly true that many people develop a thick skin and can look after themselves well in what can be an unremittingly viscious environment. And it can be that at times. What we have on MyTelegraph these days is like the proverbial vicarage tea party. Even so, we see people storm off in high dudgeon and I’ve seen that before, oh so many times.

Why do I believe my premise is true? Well you might believe that what you have to do to survive is develop a thick skin and learn to fight back when attacked. You could pick up some flaming techniques from the experts and you might even get quite good at it yourself. But I don’t think that’s what makes you a better person. What I think could make you a better person is if you learn to read between the lines, behind the actual words being used. If you learn to use words yourself with care. If you develop toleration not just of the views of others but of the way they express themselves. If you develop a skill at understanding someone else, you will learn so much more about life, about other people, and those are skills you can use in everyday life too. Life’s too short to worry about punctuation. Life’s too short to take offense where none was intended. The neat thing is, if you learn to ignore what you wrongly perceive to be an insult directed at you, you will learn to ignore real insults when they are intended. That’s actually quite a useful trait. By then you have probably learned what causes offense to others in the way you communicate, especially when you don’t intend it. That’s especially valuable to learn.

So I believe that blogging can make you a better person, if you wish it to.

The Falklands War, the teachers’ reaction

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Twenty five years after the Falkland Islands were freed from a military occupation, teachers in Scotland have voted for a ban on recruiters visiting schools to talk about careers in the army. Apparently these despicable people were handing out t-shirts and even pictures of helicopers. Okay, so I realise the teachers are probably more upset about Blair invading Iraq than anything else, but it demonstrates to me how morally enfeebled we have become because of political correctness and even class hatred. I wish we hadn’t been lied to over Iraq as well, but the response should not be to punish the armed forces over it.

Service in the military is a service to the country and is something to be proud of.

Read the BBC Scotland report here