[Archived] Hang Em High

[BuckyRover]

Indeed. A very high percentage of our literary and musical icons were "psychologically flawed", whereas a drug free theno is the benchmark for the perfect human personality.

[Stuart]

Indeed. A very high percentage of our literary and musical icons were "psychologically flawed", whereas a drug free theno is the benchmark for the perfect human personality.

But he's not drug free. He's addicted to BRFCS.com!

[Steve Moss]

But he's not drug free. He's addicted to BRFCS.com!

Can you blame him? I am also addicted. If I don't at least read, and preferably post, on this site at lease once a day I suffer from DTs. .

[thenodrog]

Can you blame him? I am also addicted. If I don't at least read, and preferably post, on this site at lease once a day I suffer from DTs. .

I blame it on crappy TV, the clocks going back for so long and er indoors cancelling every newspaper.

[Amo]

Mother jailed for toddler's murder

Heart-wrenching. It questions your very faith in mankind.

[LeChuck]

Blackburn magistrate axed for calling vandals 'scum'

What a ridiculous case. Any sane minded person would agree with him. Hopefully this is reversed, I can just imagine the faces of the teenagers involved upon hearing the news...nauseating.

[Majiball]

Anyone who does that to a church should be labeled as he said.

He said: “They needed to be told off. The courts need to start looking after the victims rather than the criminals.”

Is a point I would fully agree with.

[Amo]

Blackburn magistrate axed for calling vandals 'scum'

What a ridiculous case. Any sane minded person would agree with him. Hopefully this is reversed, I can just imagine the faces of the teenagers involved upon hearing the news...nauseating.

Why was he sacked? I assume in today's rent-a-lawyer society he could have been sued for slander or some nonsense?

[thenodrog]

Why was he sacked?

Christine Dean is the name to remember.

She is the malicious one whose position should be under threat.

[roversmum]

I believe our new Prime Minister said that with rights come responsibilities. This is a point which has for too long been overlooked in my view.

I went to York from Blackburn today using the rail service. A very pleasant day it was too. However, three incidents occurred that I found disturbing.

The first was just outside Bradford, in a country area. The driver sounded the warning hooter and began to slow down quickly. On both sides of the railway track, were people of mixed ages, about 20 of them including children, messing around. This was at about 8.30am. Later the guard told us that the driver had been able to see the people from some distance away because it was a straight piece of track. Some of them had actually been on the track.

He also told us that a driver, a good friend of his, was no longer able to work because of the trauma caused by some fool jumping on the line in front of his train and getting run over and killed. There had been, he said, three suicides involving trains over the last few weeks, and a boy who had been killed because he wandered over a crossing without looking whilst listening to his headphones.

The second incident was as we arrived back at Blackburn station. Youths were running amok on the station shouting and being rather intimidating. They were Asian youths in hoodies. The time was 7.15pm. Apparently this happens all the time and little is done about it.

As we left the station, the Colne train stopped short of the platform and an announcement was made that the train would not undertake the rest of the journey because a member of staff had been attacked and injured.

I'm fed up with hearing about the rights of these morons. I'd like to see some respect for others and the rights of those who are affected by bad behaviour and ignorance considered for a change.

[jim mk2]

IHe also told us that a driver, a good friend of his, was no longer able to work because of the trauma caused by some fool jumping on the line in front of his train and getting run over and killed.

Not unusual unfortunately. Drivers whose trains smash humans (usually suicides) into pieces in a red cloud of dismembered body parts in most cases never work again. Not surprising really.

[thenodrog]

I'm fed up with hearing about the rights of these morons. I'd like to see some respect for others and the rights of those who are affected by bad behaviour and ignorance considered for a change.

Fewer and fewer people dare to say anything to people like this nowadays. Too often it comes down as a lose/lose option.

[adopted scouser]

I believe our new Prime Minister said that with rights come responsibilities. This is a point which has for too long been overlooked in my view.

I went to York from Blackburn today using the rail service. A very pleasant day it was too. However, three incidents occurred that I found disturbing.

The first was just outside Bradford, in a country area. The driver sounded the warning hooter and began to slow down quickly. On both sides of the railway track, were people of mixed ages, about 20 of them including children, messing around. This was at about 8.30am. Later the guard told us that the driver had been able to see the people from some distance away because it was a straight piece of track. Some of them had actually been on the track.

He also told us that a driver, a good friend of his, was no longer able to work because of the trauma caused by some fool jumping on the line in front of his train and getting run over and killed. There had been, he said, three suicides involving trains over the last few weeks, and a boy who had been killed because he wandered over a crossing without looking whilst listening to his headphones.

The second incident was as we arrived back at Blackburn station. Youths were running amok on the station shouting and being rather intimidating. They were Asian youths in hoodies. The time was 7.15pm. Apparently this happens all the time and little is done about it.

As we left the station, the Colne train stopped short of the platform and an announcement was made that the train would not undertake the rest of the journey because a member of staff had been attacked and injured.

I'm fed up with hearing about the rights of these morons. I'd like to see some respect for others and the rights of those who are affected by bad behaviour and ignorance considered for a change.

[thenodrog]

I went to the military cemetary at Etaples last week. No reason except that I was staying close by. 12000 war graves which represented only about 1/800th of the total deaths of the First World War! They definitely did not deserve to die. A humbling experience and one that puts the debate of hanging a few evil monsters into proper perspective.

[roversmum]

I've just been reading a book which includes history of the first World War. Humbling reading indeed.

However, one would hope their sacrifices, and those of soldiers since, would make the world a better place.

That is no excuse for not dealing with those whose sole aim in life is to disrupt honest citizens who have done them no harm just for the fun of it.

[bazza]

One way to ensure a better, more respectful society for our children, and their descendants is to bring in compulsory national service for all.

It needs to be no longer than twelve months; maybe less.

[gumboots]

One way to ensure a better, more respectful society for our children, and their descendants is to bring in compulsory national service for all.

It needs to be no longer than twelve months; maybe less.

Totally disagree on that one. My kids have never caused any bother for anyone and i would have hated for my boys, and presumably in these days of equality, my girls too, to have to go through National Service. The problem is that our society as a whole has lost so much of its cohesion. When I was growing up I didn't dare step out of line for fear of the embarrassment it would have brought my parents. Everyone would have known what I'd been up to because half the neighbourhood were related to us (and no I didn't grow up in Burnley)Nowadays that community cohesion has gone. The support for parents, in particular from extended family has also gone as more people move away from their roots in search of work or whatever. Being a parent is a very hard job 24/7 with no time off for good behaviour and many go into having kids with no idea of that. Kids need time; they don't need loads of toys; they don't need all the latest gadgets; they need attention from the people who are most important in their lives - parents. Whether those parents live together or not, whether they are parent substitutes such as grandparents or other relatives or whoever, the parent figures need to give kids time even when they don't have it to give. Kids' behaviour patterns are largely formed before they start primary school. Some change later but not many, so it follows that the better parented they are before that age the better the chance of their growing up as decent citizens.

[thenodrog]

............. Kids need time; they don't need loads of toys; they don't need all the latest gadgets; they need attention from the people who are most important in their lives - parents. Whether those parents live together or not, whether they are parent substitutes such as grandparents or other relatives or whoever, the parent figures need to give kids time even when they don't have it to give. Kids' behaviour patterns are largely formed before they start primary school. Some change later but not many, so it follows that the better parented they are before that age the better the chance of their growing up as decent citizens.

Won't happen gumboots. In fact it's trending the other way. Generalising here but imo this nation is heaping up big trouble in the future by financially rewarding 'bad' parents to breed whilst evermore responsible and able citizens are having just one child in the their top 30's and 40's. (I heard it somewhere recently that the UK has more mothers of single children at 40+ than anywhere else in the western world.) Ferrel parents will only ever produce ferrel kids.

btw "My kids have never caused any bother for anyone and i would have hated it for my boys, and presumably in these days of equality, my girls too, to have to go through National Service."

What if your children had wanted it? Personally I think a return to National Service might well have much to offer the nation, also I'm sure that a revamped National Service would take on a much different form than the old stereotypical version. Less emphasis on spitting, polishing and square bashing and more emphasis on community projects here and overseas might breed a far different mind set amongst the young.

[gumboots]

Won't happen gumboots. In fact it's trending the other way. Generalising here but imo this nation is heaping up big trouble in the future by financially rewarding 'bad' parents to breed whilst evermore responsible and able citizens are having just one child in the their top 30's and 40's. (I heard it somewhere recently that the UK has more mothers of single children at 40+ than anywhere else in the western world.) Ferrel parents will only ever produce ferrel kids.

btw "My kids have never caused any bother for anyone and i would have hated it for my boys, and presumably in these days of equality, my girls too, to have to go through National Service."

What if your children had wanted it? Personally I think a return to National Service might well have much to offer the nation, also I'm sure that a revamped National Service would take on a much different form than the old stereotypical version. Less emphasis on spitting, polishing and square bashing and more emphasis on community projects here and overseas might breed a far different mind set amongst the young.

darned sure they wouldn't. They have enough initiative to go and get themselves things to do. Daughter went as an aupair at 17 to Germany, worked summers in Italy, met her future husband and changed degree course to study at Uni in Munich where she now lives. Son spent 2 summers working at summer camps in America before going to S Korea for 2 years and is now back getting a better degree to enable him to move back to Korea. Daughter worked in sports centre organising kids parties before going to France for 4 summers to work on campsites and younger son worked as a cleaner at his own school after school, then is rag president for his hall this year and for his Uni next year. My kids don't need to be organised into community projects or whatever. Might suit some but would have taken even more of their time when they already have projects to do and things they want to get on with.

[ultrablue]

Those are some damn fine kids you got there gumboots! Especially that older son of yours - and might I say handsome too!

Having studied about Korea and having worked there, I know one of the hottest topics at the moment is the mandatory National Service all young men there must do. And the opinion on it is very one-sided. To put it bluntly - everyone hates it. Young people hate it, old people hate it, politicians hate it, business hates it, pretty much everyone thinks its one of the biggest negative effects of the division of Korea.

Of course, it serves a purpose there in a country with very different circumstances to the UK. Korea is still technically at war. But the reality is that in a country of 50 million people, every man (women don't have to do Service) must give two years to the armed forces, in a small country that doesn't commit many troops to overseas missions and is protected my the United States. Military service for the average person is therefore largely spend on community projects, policing, and regular military exercises. The day to day life of a person on National Service in the UK would probably be very similar to that of a Korean. Basically most see it as boring, pointless and grow to resent it.

Young men hate it as it stops them in their tracks just as they are deciding what to do with their lives. It is quite common to have to stop university degrees in the middle. Young entrepreneurs have to put plans on hold, meaning that when they have finished their time in the army, they come out to find their business plan is no longer viable.

Businesses hate it for a very similar reasons. Training is disrupted. Graduates are older and expect higher salaries as they have fewer years before they start a family.

Older people hate it, because it contributes to the problem of an aging workforce, meaning the retirement age is going up.

Politicians hate it, because it actually turns most people off engagement as a foreign policy. This is admittedly something perculiar to Korea but I think we can expect something a little similar in the UK. National Service is resented so much that most people question whether Korea needs to reunite with the North at all. They increasingly see the North as an entirely seperate country, a sovereign nation that the South has as much to do with as it does, say, the Philipines. National Service is therefore harming the poliical agenda, makig it very difficult for politicians to keep reunification viable. Reunification needs to be kept as the overall goal for security on the peninsula, yet, as we see now after the sinking of the Korean navy vessel the Cheonnan, relations are the worst for years.

Similarly, we can expect National Service to turn Britain's youth off the idea of engagement, say, in Iraq or Afganistan, making it much more difficult for our country to fulfill its international commitments. This is the last thing the government wants right now. So basically, national service would create many more problems than it would solve.

[bazza]

My idea would be a different form of service to the one that was in the forties and fifties. Six months may be enough.

The idea would be to give all participants self respect and belief in themselves. Once you have that, they should respect other people and other people's property.

After two generations or so, many of the children of these ex-service parents and grandparents would be loved and brought up as Gumboots and the rest of us would wish.

I feel so sorry for the poor kids that are dragged up by rubbish parents. Compulsory Nat Service could be the making of a lot of them. As well as the discipline, they could be taught the basics of how to perform simple but necessary tasks in order to run a home properly.

So as not to discriminate against those poor kids, even the well brought up and well mannered ones should do the same service.

[colin]

Thing is the Armed Services are busy enough without having to deal with legions of youths who don't want to do National Service.

National Service was brought in in a time of war, same as enlistment in the USA.

Can anyone here who is advocating National Service recount their life-enhancing experiances of it? Or is it just a pipe-dream.

I'd be glad to actually hear from someone who has actually done National Service and come out of it a better person.

I'll stand back now and wait for the flood of comments.

[gumboots]

My idea would be a different form of service to the one that was in the forties and fifties. Six months may be enough.

The idea would be to give all participants self respect and belief in themselves. Once you have that, they should respect other people and other people's property.

After two generations or so, many of the children of these ex-service parents and grandparents would be loved and brought up as Gumboots and the rest of us would wish.

I feel so sorry for the poor kids that are dragged up by rubbish parents. Compulsory Nat Service could be the making of a lot of them. As well as the discipline, they could be taught the basics of how to perform simple but necessary tasks in order to run a home properly.

So as not to discriminate against those poor kids, even the well brought up and well mannered ones should do the same service.

I understand what you are saying about it being a different form of service but read the comments from ultrablue and you'll see he says Korea has a largely community based service but it's still unpopular. I don't see compulsory service enhancing anyone's life. The compulsory element is what turns people off - school has already done enough to turn off most kids and they can't wait to escape its restrictions. Would then holding them back if they are studying at a University of their choice or pursuing a career where even 6 months out might make a difference actually be productive? I don't see it. There are some kids for whom the strong discipline of Forces life is life enhancing - I've met ex pupils I hardly recognised after they have spent a few years in the Army, but without military discipline to go with any project based work, many would just not turn up. I don't think you can have compulsory national service withut some means of enforcing it and I dislike the idea of that very much.

[Darth Paul]

Woke up at 5.30 this morning to come down stairs and find my house had been broken into. TV gone, laptop and God knows what else...

This on the back of spending the last year fighting my toe-rag of an ex over contact to my kids, costing me a bloody fortune, whilst she gets legal aid as her and her family can't be arsed working, and are experts at the benefit game, has just left me completely sick and tired of the under class of people in our society who totally undermine those of us who are prepared to graft for the things in life they want.

I am now having to take time off work, something these people know nothing of, to wait for the CSI guys, meaning that I will be looking at a late finish and an hour and a half drive home on Bank Holiday Weekend. Even if these low-life's get caught it will just be a slap on the wrist for them.

I hope the heroin they buy from the sale of my stuff is contaminated, and that the NHS towards which they have contributed nothing towards, turns them away...but they won't.

You only have to take a walk down any high street to see people who in reality are no better than parasites...totally sick of it.

[roversmum]

Couldn't they have some form of National Service for kids who aren't in education - thus leaving people at university or on apprentice type courses to carry on with their studies?

Having two granddaughters with profound learning disabilities/autism (one of which had to attain the age of 15 and reams of paperwork, pressure and heartache before it was finally properly diagnosed) I am concerned that a number of young people on the streets have similar problems that have not been addressed. These are youngsters who are easily led into drugs, prostitution and related ciminal activity and indeed I heard recently that judges are now insisting on investigations by the relevant bodies on such youngsters when they come before the courts.

I'm not saying that this applies to all but many such youngsters come from families with a history of similar disabilities who simply cannot cope with uruly teenagers or indeed are not capable of realising there is a problem.