I’m a Pundit

Another bullied child was found hanging in a closet recently, as a stark reminder that bullying can have dire consequences.  Jaheem Herrera was your average 11 year old boy, he did well at school and was fairly outgoing.  Unfortunately his mother and sister found him hanging by his belt in the closet.

The school itself is saying it does everything possible to combat bullying, but I have the feeling that the following procedure

“Students are even asked to sign a no-bullying pledge.  ”

Does sweet fuck all.

When I was younger I took a fair amount of abuse, this amounted to bullying, but I am actually glad of this now I lok back, it built my character, helped me learn to look after myself and I realised that bullies tend to target those who have something socially wrong with them in the first place.

It was when I realised this that I overcame any intimidation and pushing myself to develop all my personal as well as academic skills.  So in a way, the bullying helped me.

I think preventing any form of bullying or name calling could infact harm more children than it help, it would stop them learning from each other what is strange or abnormal, and could lead to one hell of a lot of personality disorders in the future.

Now obviously this is a blanket statement, name calling up to the point that a child hangs himself is very, very wrong, maybe the bully them-self should be charged with a crime to balance off their personality.  I think it is important however to find the fine dividing line where the victim shied away from self improvement and turned to self mutilation.

written by Oli \\ tags: Bullying, School, Suicide

With a trip to America planned there has not been much time for me to read the paper recently.  One thing that has garnered my attention however is the latest string of Pirate attacks that are suddenly being publicized.  Now Modern day pirate attacks are no new thing, and the publicity can only help towards ending this.  What worries me however is how soft we are being to the pirates.Currently these people are sailing the seas, killing innocent people and stealing their boats, ships and cargo.  Currently if they get talk all that happens is their weapons and ammunition are conficated and tehy are given provision, yes thats right we give the pirates goods, and send them home.  Is there just me that sees something wrong with this?I very much doubt that I was not the only one who cheered when I heard that three of the somalian pirates had been shot dead while holding an American prisoner hostage, these guys go out as bandits and pillage the ships, they get what they deserve.What interests me is why they get given aid, not punishment, would a bank robber be let go if he was caught stealing millions, because these pirates steal millions.   Further more would a bank robber be taken to the nearest fast food joint and given a burger? Hell No!If these pirates are intent on continuing their piracy I think our navies should go out their and show with true force what happens to people who mess with our ships, blow em out of the water!And for all the people who say it i because they were fishermen who had all their fish stolen, this has been going on for decades, I think even in that region after nearly 30 years people can get their heads around a different profession.  

written by Oli \\ tags: Pirates

Its not often that I wonder about the depths that humanity can reach, but recent evidence uncovered around Melbourne in Australia that the bush fires which have claimed the lives of over 180 people may have been started by arsonists.These fires have displaced over 3000 people from their homes and injured over 1000.  The fact that this devestation could be a calculated man made travesty sickens me.  How could someone calculatingly start fires in the blistering heats currently affecting Australia and still look these people in the face.My deepest condolences and well wishes go out to the families and those affected by these devastating bush fires which are sweeping the areas around Melbourne.I sincerely hope the police in Australia find the arsonist/s behind these fires as soon as possible, before things become even worse. 

written by Oli \\ tags: Arson, Australia, Worldwide

I was pleased to see that the Government has decided to officially tackle the obesity problem. Yes that’s right, all you fat bastards out there, you are now officially a problem.

This new campaign has been brought together after an obviously shammed together report claimed that in 2050 90% of people will be overweight.  Judging by this I have looked at decent trends and deduced from the governments recent interest rate cuts that in 2050 interest rates will be at minus 30%.  Good news for mortgage holders but sorry savers, your lucks not in.I am not sure exactly how the government is deducing it’s priorities, I mean lets face it, they are pretty much removing all aspects of fitness from our every day lives, take for instance the following :-Rising taxes on pub beers forcing people to shop for booze at the supermarket - This not keeps people at home rather than visiting the pub! (On a serious note I know 3 pub football teams that have collapsed due to the insane rises in alcohol tax), forcing people to stay at home is not only damaging pubs but removing a lot of social activities, many of which ARE fitness related.Increased benefits for single parents - Gone are the days when b***rdry was a crime.  Today we promote single parentage and following that the number of children eating at Macdonalds everyday on non working single parent support has risen drastically.  (On a serious note here a huge percentage of obesity comes from government supported families, this is not coincidence)Compare this to times past when single mothers were flogged and sent to the work house while their children had to walk to London and survive on stolen vegetables while performing spontaneous song and dance routines with surprisingly athletic stall holders.  You can suddenly see why obesity has risen drastically from 200 years agoClosing Sport and Health Facilities - I am not so sure about other areas but due to lack of funding my local city has wait for it NO inner city sports facilities.  This means no cheap government subsidised gym, no swimming pool, nothing infact other than quite a lot of paths which can be run along with only minor damage caused to your knees.Anti Bullying Legislation - Yes I know it may seem cruel and no one likes to see a child picked on.  But lets face it, nothing will get a kid on the sport track faster than 50 of his peers calling him fatty and throwing pies at him.  I think a lot of problems that are around today come from too many rights organisations and do-gooders making life too cushy, these same people have caused countless c*ck ups with their mis-management and shot sightedness.All in all I am not surprised obesity is increasing.Infact the only light at the end of the tunnel I can see most surprisingly came from Gordon brown (although in some ways it isn’t that surprising, the money grabbing retard doesn’t see the benefits the scheme will have on the country he merely sees a quick buck).  Yes that’s right, in the near future it will be much harder to claim benefits unless you are actively looking for work!British Economy

written by Oli \\ tags: Depression, Law, Politics, Recession

Internet freedom is something that went unchecked for many years, up untill the last decade in the UK.  Other countries such as China severely restrict waht people can see.  Today however a huge debate sparked up after a wikipedia page was banned on several ISPs which displayed an album cover from the band Scorpions.

The reason this page was banned was because it  shows the album cover (Also banned in the UK) Which depicts a nude child.

Now first off, let me state, in my personal opinion using a nude image of a child is wrong.  Recently an artist complained on restriction of his art because he was photographing nude children.  Can I point out to my readers here that Art is an expression of emotion, if naked children flip these artists buttons then they need locking up before they act out their emotion.

What worries a lot of people in the wikipedia album cover debate however is not the naked child, but more the fact that teh page was blocked by ISPs without any governement interventian, it was infact a seperate body which added this site to their banned list and distributed it to the ISPs.

The body in question is  the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation), Britains online child protection watchdog.

In some ways I have to admit I applaud the efforts of these guys and the ISPs in blocking the content.   On the other however I worry that this is only the beginning of dictatorship like controls on what we can view online.

There is no doubt that child abuse is wrong, but such a control over our viewing could easily be extended, what would you say if your ISP did not let you shop online anywhere but their own store?

What if the government only let you buy items from the UK to avoid people skipping import tax?

How far would you let this go before you complained?

written by Oli \\ tags: Child Abuse, Internet Censorship, Internet Watch Foundation, IWF, Wikipedia

The president of the European Commison Jose Manuel Barroso has announced the the UK has come a step closer to joining the single Euro currency.  PersonallyI cannot see this happening.

Tony Bair constantly triumphed the single Euro currency as  the future, however most of Britain questioned whether it was worth our while joining a single currency which would take a third off the value of our money, and remove control from our own central reserve.

Many people have debated our part in the Euro at all, benefits such as ease of travel and work for residents are of huge benefit, however things take a turn for the worse when you look at what the UK pays into it compared to other members.

So from me, today, Euro Currency? No Thanks.

written by Oli \\ tags: Euro

PETA, one of the worlds most well known and yet most debated animal rights group has caused huge divide in animal rights groups over the years.

Now it is no secret that I am no sympathiser to animal rights or environmental organizations.  Most of them are extremely effective at making situations worse and causing increased human suffering and poverty with shortisghted idiotic decisions.

PETA however really get on my tits.  They are an organization that focus entirely on propaganda and celebrity endorsement to convince the weak willed and stupid to follow their cause, rather like scientology, simply to increase tehir own profits.

If I am lieing please explain how an organization that earns $30 million surplus a year can only get 3% of fit for adoption pets adopted, the other 97% are killed and dumped.  Compare this to the 27%  rate of killing in other animal adoption facilities and suddenly you have a real worrying figure.

What really ocncerns me about animal rights agencies such as this is that they even argue against pets, not just cattle.  They seem to think it is their right to say an animal should not be alive, because it may suffer just a little.

Well lets get something straight, most people with pets seem to treat them better than their children.  Maybe these PETA volunteers and personnel should be shot, after all they are alive and will undoubtedly suffer at some point in their lives, what is the point of them existing.

They are, to put it bluntly, complete wankers.

Should we nuke the hell out of Africa  because ‘people are suffering’, just kil them all, no more suffering in africa, no more poverty, it’s best for them right?

Wrong.

Animals should be allowed to live, even if their end is a swift chop.  Would you rather not be born if you knew you had a sudden death appearing half way through your life?

Hell yes you would want to live, for as long as possible.

written by Oli \\ tags: Animal Killing, Animal Rights, Disgrace, PETA

Let me summarise the following text for those who are busy and cannot read this report on the incoming VAT changes but increase ni NI contributions

There is no immediate change in the main rates of class 1 employers and employees national insurance from 6 April 2009. However, a large rise in class 1 national insurance is proposed from 6 April 2011 to 11.5% for employees, to 13.3% for employers, and the additional rate payable above the upper limit is to increase from 1% to 1.5%. This would bring in a significant amount of additional revenue for the Government beyond 2011.

Class 3 national insurance is a voluntary class normally paid by people who want to top up their NI contributions in order to receive the full state pension. This voluntary rate is increasing from £8.10 per week to £12.05 per week from 6 April 2009. So if you need to top-up your NI contributions it would be best to do this while the rate remains at £8.10 per week.

This overall increase in taxes is a huge jump on every single British citizen, god knows how the government can justify its 4.5% inflation figure when it jumps the basic class 3 national insurance contributions by near 50%

It gets even worse when you realise that Labour have already signed a document declaring that when the VAT gets returned from 15% it will infact be raised to 18.5% to help the deficit caused by their own incompetence.

Argh!

written by Oli \\ tags: Budget, UK, VAT

Despite the remembrance ceremonies for world war 1 today many of the newspapers have also been looking a the story of a young 13 years old girl.

This young girl at the age of 12 decided that she did not want a heart transplant and instead would die with dignity. The doctors challenged this and took the family to court, wishing to have the young girl removed from her parents custody and forced to have the operation.  The young girl however remained adamant that she did not want to continue a life already ravaged by a heart defect that had already made her life full of pain.

The parents stood by her decision, not surprisingly after they had witnessed the trauma she had gone through.

The big question is though, is the girl old enough to make an informed decision on her choice to live?  Refusing the heart transplant is of course tantamount to euthanasia.

Personally I think she should be allowed the choice, if she is at a point in her life, but what do you think?

written by Oli \\ tags: Euthanasia, News

In Britain we have the NHS, a sytem envied by many other countries.  It’s shiny public face however covers huge defecits.  Today they are debating a key decision which will allow people to top up their NHS treatment with drugs that the NHS would not normally provide.

This sounds a good idea till you look at what happened with our road taxation system not so long ago.  Road/Car tax was initially brought in to cover the cost of our roads, meaning car owners footed the bill.  But wait a second when we buy fuel on petrol around 80% of that is tax, the government said this tax was to cover road upkeep, but wasn’t that what car tax was for?

Now just to rub salt in the wounds the governmetn is implementing Tolls on our roads, why is this? To support our road infrastructure of course.

So with this NHS top up fee to increase availablity to drugs outside the NHS I am severely worried that the number of drugs available on the NHS will steadily decrease and more and more people will be forced to pay for their own drugs while we still pay a huge amount of tax in other ways to support our NHS system in the first place.

I really do think the UK tax system needs a shake up, with huge across the board simplization and removal of ‘duplicate taxes’ where possible.

I do not think that NHS top ups should be allowed on the NHS I do however think that the NHS should be provideing life saving drugs, rather than letting people die because their life saving drugs are too expensive.

Currently human life in the Uk is valued at less than £30,000, fan-fucking-tastic.

written by Oli \\ tags: Drugs, Medicine, NHS, NICE, Top Up, UK