Great Britain?

I've been thinking about the way this country is going quite a lot lately and I've come to the conclusion that as a nation we're spoilt.

Poverty is a choice in this country. Most people define poverty as the inability to feed their kids healthy food AND buy them expensive trainers. (Many opting for the latter when pushed to choose)

Kids are mugging, stabbing and shooting other kids for white goods and street cred.

Areas of urban Britain are starting to resemble US-style Ghettos, not out of depravation but rather emulation.

We define the quality of clothing not by the fabric or stitching quality but by the label written on it.

We're more likely to know what Jade Goody has been doing in the last week than our next door neighbour. (Although in my case the bloke next door is a builder constantly renovating his house!)

It wasn't always like this. I've been watching a show on Channel 4 called 'It Never Did Me Any Harm'. The parents give their children the same kind of upbringing that they had in the 1970s (minus the leather belt for bad behaviour) instead of the comparatively luxurious upbringings that their children get from them now. The changes you see in the kids' behaviour is astonishing.

I didn't have as harsh an upbringing as the people on the show. Possibly because I grew up in the 1980s by which time toilets had moved indoors. But I still did a lot more (somewhat reluctantly) to help my parents than the kids in the TV show.
The main difference though was respect. Even when I became (decidedly) argumentative with my parents during my teenage years, I never spoke to them or any other adult in the disrespectful manner that is now commonplace amongst children... Although in all fairness other kids my age did.

It isn't necessarily a case of solidarity through adversity. You just need to appreciate what you have and unfortunately most people don't, unless you take it away from them.

I watched 'Comic Relief' on Friday night. It wasn't so long ago that I avoided all overseas charities as I felt we should sort out our own country first. But now I've pretty much done a 180.
The causes they were championing for Africa were far more worthwhile than the ones here in the UK.
An example they gave for the UK domestic violence causes was a 'lifeline' mobile phone for a women who's partner had cut all the phone lines in their house.
Not being funny but if cutting the phone lines isn't a sign to pack up and leave then I don't know what is.
Wherever you go to escape, you'll always be fed, you'll be able to wash yourself and use a plumbed toilet and you're children will be able to go to a school. They won't die of a preventable disease and the welfare state will get you back on your feet. Many would argue that the welfare state would push you along on a trolley until your youngest child is 16.

I'd rather spend money building schools for kids in Africa that don't have them but desperately want them than for kids in Britain that have them and don't want them / take them for granted.

I'm not saying every kid is rotten and I'm not saying that we all have too much money but if we don't address the serious social issues that are getting worse by the day then this country will go to rot.

Unfortunately the government doesn't seem to realise that poverty doesn't exist here anymore and so do everything they can to help 'disadvantaged backgrounds' as they think Britain still has the same social model it had in the 1970s.

If you do too much for someone, where's the incentive for them to do anything for themselves?

Sign Up

It would seem everyone and their dog wants to put a petition on the Prime Minister's website these days. I'm sure there'll be a new one raised in response to him saying 'Am I bovvered?' to Catherine Tate (playing her uber-chav Lauren) on Comic Relief last night.

However I've decided to raise one myself (and give up the last ounce of anonymity I had on this blog in the process) and after two weeks of being stuck in the approval bucket it finally got up and running yesterday.

You can view it here. Even if you don't give a toss about public sector pay you should at least agree that M.P.s shouldn't be able to write themselves a blank cheque. It's not like staff retention is an issue, every constituancy in Britain has at least four candidates competing.

I for one am fed up with the government pissing money away on grand project after grand project and then claiming that it's the public workers fault that public expenditure is so high. Ignore all the cock ups listed below and whinge about our pensions instead:

Trident (£76 Billion)
London Olympics (£9 Billion)
NHS Computer System (£12 Billion)
National ID Card (£93 per person)
Road Pricing System (Blank Cheque)
Millenium Dome (£758 Million)
Private Finance Initiative (Unknown)

Forcing all M.P.s to have a pay freeze won't make too big an impact on public sector spending but it might make them see the effects of one of their lousy policies for once. It might even open their eyes to what I like to refer as 'The Real World'.

Dartmoor

I've been going running more and more often of late in a bid to get fit for a half marathon at the end of May.

As part of my training I was going to go for a run around the Burrator reservoir on Sunday (The reservoir is located north of Plymouth within Dartmoor National Park). However when the national weather forecast (after the news on Saturday night) specifically warned of heavy rain on Dartmoor for Sunday, I took it as a hint to stay away. I ran in Plymouth instead after the rain had died down a bit.

Anyone that watches the local news in the area would be aware that although Dartmoor is a beautiful location for outdoor pursuits when the weather is nice around the summer, it can turn into a deathtrap when the weather is bad around the winter. The steep hills and abundance of granite can quickly turn marshes into fast flowing rivers after a short spell of heavy rain. It's why the marines use the area for training.

So bearing all of this in mind and also the fact that I didn't even witness the appalling conditions at first hand, I am truly astounded that the 'manager' responsible for Charlotte Shaw's group didn't call it off.

Unfortunately one person's stupidity will now make it even more unlikely for parents allow their children to participate in outdoor pursuits. To be honest, with poor judgement like that I don't blame them.

I'm convinced that people must think that because we don't have blizzards, hurricanes, mudslides or flash floods that the elements don't produce fatalities. Like those tossers that went out climbing in the Lake District when the country was getting battered by high winds in January.

Why do we have this obsession with pressing on when dispite foul weather? It's not like we're about to attack the Argentine front, it was supposed to be a fun trip.

I remember more than one school excursion where we went out in appalling conditions. One trip was walking around the coast of Pembrokeshire - shortly after an oil tanker had run aground in the area (Due to foul weather) Another was a camping night in sub-zero temperatures. On both occasions I was off sick the following week as a result and my Mother was furious that the school could be so reckless.

When the going gets tough, quit!

Predictable

Every now and then a court case comes along where you know damn well that the Guilty verdict is a load of bollocks and that a retrial is inevitable. It's usually a case that involves a dead child like this.

As with most of these cases, if the child has an unexplained death then it's just that. How on earth the CPS can justify trying the parents/carers for murder when there is no clear-cut medical evidence is beyond me.

I'm just glad that the Gay's (snigger) have finally been put in the clear.

The death of a child is always a tragedy but it isn't necessarily always someone's fault.