Friday 20/03/09

On Wednesday Sean Hodgson walked free after 27 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Had the UK still retained the death penalty, this would not be possible. It is precisely for this reason that I am against the death penalty in general. I have to admit to having no problem with the death penalty being used in specific circumstances where guilt is 100% certain (i.e. where there’s speed camera evidence, when I receive poor service in a restaurant or when I simply don’t like the cut of the accused’s jib) – but those instances are rare.

I often wonder whether people would be so willing to convict (as juries) if there were to be a balancing system whereby if it was subsequently proven that there was a miscarriage of justice (i.e. a fit-up), then the sentence would be carried out on the jury itself. There would probably be a good few less strident Daily Mail readers calling for the death penalty.

More fun on the atheist Facebook forum yesterday. Some chap asked why Christians have such a massive issue with homosexuality. I felt compelled to reply that it’s not just Christians and I’d wager that a decent sized proportion of atheists are also homophobic, as atheism isn’t necessarily synonymous with rational or liberal thought. The main difference, however, is that with atheists you know it’s just plain good old bigotry and they at least have the decency to not dress it up in theological dogma and pass the buck to God.

The UK government’s chief scientist, Prof John Beddington, has warned that growing world population will cause a "perfect storm" of food, energy and water shortages by 2030. He maintains that demand for food and energy will jump 50% and for fresh water by 30%. Climate change will simply exacerbate matters in unpredictable ways. He added that improving agricultural productivity globally was one way to tackle the problem, as 30-40% of all crops are currently lost to pests and disease before they are harvested. He’s looking for more disease-resistant and pest-resistant plants along with better harvesting procedures.

I find it disconcerting that no-one mentions fewer people as a viable solution. However, that would damage state pensions, which rely entirely on exponentially growing populations. We’re getting ourselves into a right pickle. Pretty soon we’ll have to start saving for our own retirements, or even go back to the extended nuclear family where the oldies live with the productive youngsters.

For any new readers, I live in an extended family. We all live on a kampong; Hay’s parents (the Caravans) live in the main house, her sister and partner live in the annex next door, and Hay and I are about to build our house in the adjoining field (and are currently living on-site in a mobile home). The benefits are huge:

• There’s always someone at home to receive parcels, facilitate utility readings or let in the repair men.
• We have between us the use of 5 cars, so if one breaks down we can usually be assured of a lift or borrowing another.
• We don’t have to travel miles and take out a whole day to visit relatives on Hay’s side – they’re all on-site.
• There’s a mutual support network.
• The Caravans don’t have to worry about becoming infirm.
• We can all gang-up against the neighbours and intimidate them, thus preventing them applying for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.
  

Google Street View is meant to have been launched in the UK. Buggered if I can find out how to use it, or even find it. Google the facility and you are led to a help page which is about as useful as fishing rod in a snowstorm. It shows world places where Street View is implemented, but the UK appears to be devoid of any such locations, despite the news saying otherwise. Doubtless the paranoid will be writing to their MPs and the daily Mail to protest about invasions of privacy. It will be fun to see who has their house removed from it – I know of at least one couple who will be huffing and puffing with righteous indignation.

Actually, if you click on this link you’ll see a photo of our drive (or unmade road, as I prefer to call it). Haven’t a clue who took it, but it is rather nice. Our family compound is at the end of that driveway, just over the common. You can’t quite see the barbed wire and sentry towers.

A Nottingham postmaster in Sneinton, Nottinghamshire, has said he will refuse to serve people in his post office if they cannot speak English. This is based on the simple and inalienable fact that he couldn’t serve them if he couldn’t understand them. He said that he had turned away about six customers after they wasted his time and infuriated other customers because they couldn’t understand English. The stance is understandably very popular with the locals. The Postmaster’s name? Deva Kumarasiri, who moved to England from Sri Lanka 18 years ago!

One customer, Mohammed Ahmed, disagreed. He said that if people come here to work, it's their right to stay, even if they can’t speak the language. Afzal Sadif from the Nottingham Racial Equality Council said Mr. Kumarasiri's stance was unacceptable and one can't force English on people.

Yes you can! The Brits have been doing it for centuries! More than half the world speaks it. It’s the mark of a civilised country.

Why is it that everyone coming to the UK is so consumed by their rights and no-one ever mentions obligations. There again, have you ever heard Col. and Mrs. Blimp trying to be understood in a foreign country – even if they have lived there 20 years? The thing is that when speaking to the Fuzzy-Wuzzies, the Brits speak louder and slower, which miraculously makes them understood. If that fails, putting a vowel on the end of every word most certainly works in the vast majority of cases. Johnny foreigner, on the other hand, just speaks faster and starts waving his arms, which only serves to make him even more unintelligible.

There was a video clip of Mr. Kumarasiri being interviewed, but I couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying – attrocious Nottinghamshire dialect.

May take a rest from posting over the weekend (note the word ‘may’). Hay and I are off to Cornwall to see my boys and celebrate me attaining the age of 54 on Sunday.