Dying to use a hand held phone

What are we going to do about the hand held mobile phone menace that is now an epidemic amongst around 35% of the UK's motorists? In the last 2 years or so I never make a journey no matter how short and not see some cretin either jabbering on their phone or texting/tweeting etc. In my experience this is most prevalent, but not exclusive to, the 17-30 year old age group, male and female. These are not quick 30 second emergency calls (although in 99% of cases this is still no excuse) but long drawn out conversations where you can be driving behind someone for 5-10 minutes whilst the offender in front weaves erratically through junctions and roundabouts etc without signalling (there's only so much you can do with one hand) with a moronic grin on their face.

The penalties are nowhere near tough enough when caught which most offending motorists never are, hence no real deterrent. More in line with how serious an offence this is would be a driving ban. That may at least focus the minds of a percentage of the offenders. It really needs to become as socially unacceptable as drink driving is as, currently, enforcing the hand held phone offence has become almost impossible for the police. It took 2 or 3 generations for drink driving to become taboo and sadly I fear it could take the same amount of time for using hand held mobiles whilst driving to reduce too. It will take many more preventable deaths and catastrophic collisions for the 21st century motorist to realise it just isn't worth it.

Simon Cowell - Crimes Against Music

I recently listened to a group of people complaining for 10 minutes about a soulless, depressing, mind-numbing-insult-to-anyone-with-a-genuine-love-of-music "talent" contest, called "X Factor".

I asked them why they watch it if it pains them so much and didn't they have anything better to do with their time, especially on a Saturday night. "Well it's just on innit"  and "everyone else watches it so I have to know what they're talking about" were just 2 of the replies. What does this say about the millions who watch this drivel while decent hard working talented musicians of all genres are out there waiting for an audience? It tells me that we have bred a nation of tone-deaf shallow morons. The creator of this tripe is clearly music's Satan disguised with a smug face resembling a smacked arse.

If you genuinely appreciate quality music get out there and find it. You won't find it on Cowell's cow-pat television.

Searching For A Brain

We've all seen them shambling in and around the sprawling urban streets of 21st century British cities; Shaven heads, scowling faces, one hand down the front of their never washed tracksuit "leisurewear", whilst the other hand struggles to control the snarling "staffie" dog with the ridiculous obligatory medal around it's neck....and this is just the girls. Yes, readers you are looking at one of the UK underclasses' finest. 

In my opinion they are the creation of this and previous generation's fatuous neglect of all that is virtuous and good.  A Frankenstein's monster unleashed on the civilised society that works around them. There is no single person, or even group of people, to blame for their rise. Do we blame the sweeping social revolution of the 1960s? The selfish, greed driven Thatcher years of the 1980s, or a symptom of the many recessions to occur in most decades since the Second World War ? I believe all these factors have played a part. So, what do we do with them ?

I believe that despite the liberal do-gooders belief that no one is beyond rehabilitation, there is a size-able percentage who are beyond saving and can only be, at best, controlled. The "shameless" society needs to learn what shame is.Cut the benefits for those who clearly do not want to work.Get tougher on crime. Not longer prison sentences, this simply doesn't work. The more low level crime can be punished by shaming the offenders.Bring back modern day stocks and humiliate them. Set them up in town and city centre squares. Read out their offences to the general public. Introduce them time and again to their victims (with the victim's permission). Show them the stocks. Another offence and they go in. This would surely be a greater deterrent than 14 days in prison.

UK Non-Church of England Head of State

This coalition government is considering "allowing" Catholics to marry into the upper echelons of the royal family, but there is no still no chance of a Catholic king or queen for the UK. Well let me just see what time it is.....oh it's 500 years past Henry VIII! This ancient bigotry really is incredible. Yes I know the Protestant Church of England is the official state religion. They don't truly represent the majority of this mufti-cultural country of all faiths, races, creeds etc so please can we finally get rid of this outdated, irrelevant burden on us all and embrace a little secularism?




 

Bonfire Night

It's bonfire night 2011 and we are still making one hell of a row about an event 406 years ago. why? money? tradition? anti-Catholicism? boredom ?

The cons surely outweigh the pros. Extra strain on the emergency services, wasted public money on displays and let's not forget the annoyance of the less enlightened members of our communities setting fireworks off before the end of August.

So you think I'm a curmudgeon? You're not far wrong. I enjoyed the night as a kid as much as any other 10 year old, but times have changed. We now rush out to buy fireworks for new year, weddings, christenings, new hairdos and the hamster's birthday. A bit of education on the history of all this "let's burn Guy Fawkes" wouldn't go amiss either.

Yes Mr Fawkes was a 17th century 'terrorist' if you like but are we all now shouting for "penny for the terrorists"?! Our sensitivities wouldn't allow this of course but burning an effigy of a Catholic .. err.. guy from over 400 years ago is fair play. If we have to have a "special" fireworks night then can we have it in memory of something a bit more worthwhile?