h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yup, that'll be the ones who attack and kill people.

Parents of boy who went through classroom with axe: 'He was a quiet boy.'

Since the psychos seem to be low achievers just tag all the people who don't get passes in GCSE's...pretty much no-one with the exam system we have.

I still hold with my method of stopping joyriding and stealing cars. If a car deosn;t stop for the police and races off as seen on 'Police facists, camera, action' when the car is finally stopped the occupants are shot on the spot. You advertise that this will happen in a certain city over a number of days, changing city for a few months then you say it will happen in a city but you do not tell the British pubic...see how many cars are stolen then.

Hi 3Dots,

Back in the 18th Century when the punishment for a sizeable majority of crimes was hanging, or transportation to the Virginia plantations as a slave, Britain in general and London in particular was far more violent than it is now.

A return to legalized violence/vengeance by the State would not improve things one jot. It would make policing almost impossible though. After all what does a criminal have to lose should he resist the police with lethal force if he knows that all that awaits him is the noose?

Historically our British society is more peaceful than it has ever been. The people more amenable to police and government control than before. The hardcore of professional criminals are no real bother, they usually only attack each other.

The real danger to us comes from the 'War on Drugs'. This prohibition, laid down in the 1960's, has done exactly what the famous American Alcohol Prohibition did. It has created a gangster culture based around supplying those with addicitive personalities with their needs. The amount of money that can be made is just incredible and will fuel any act, no matter how venal.

The cure is remarkably simple. Hand supply over to a number of top pharmaceutical companies, and give addicts what they want; properly regulated, clean and taxed, just like tobacco and alcohol. Then you slowly reduce demand through educaton, public information campaigns and healthcare, just like tobacco.

If clean and safe drugs are available from your pharmacist without prescription no-one has to rob or steal to feed their addictions. There is no illicit thrill in trying them. They reckon 80% of crime is fuelled by the need for money to buy drugs.

As for revolutions they usually destroy a society and hand it to its worse elements - political extremists. The orange revolution was an anomaly, the majority of them are bloody affairs that lead to repression.

There is a way to change things and that is through the use of your money. If you don't like the big banks, bank with a local credit union. If you don't like the credit card companies, stop using them. If you don't like industrialized farming or food miles buy local produce direct from the farmers and smallholders (or even grow your own - quelle horreur!).

When the next elections come along campaign for your alternative candidate, usually green. Keep your present MP and councillors well informed of your opinions and get your friends to do the same. Use short words and clear explanations so they are under no illusions that their jobs are on the line if they don't begin to support the green proletariat.

Get involved. Read Monbiot, support Do Something About It, find out the truth.

Matholwch .

Good post Math

The famous serial killer Ted Bundy was finally captured and executed in Florida. Why did he go to Florida? Because that state had the death penalty. To him the thrill of killing was enhanced by the risk to his own life. A twelve year old girl lost the chance to grow up and have children of her own because the people of Florida thought that the death penalty was a deterrent.

Why do people climb mountains or jump out of airplanes or ride motorbikes too fast? Because risking ones own life is EXCITING!! Having the death penalty just increases the violent atmosphere of the state.

I'm not sure about the validity of connecting a love of extreme sports with psychopathology

One could say both are about personal empowerment, but it seems to me the former is about empowerment through challenging one's self, whereas the latter is about empowerment by destroying others.

The thrill-seeker may be seeking to explore their limits, but the psychopath is seeking thrills by defying the limits of acceptable human behavior.

The psychopath is arrogant, and feels himself superior to others.

Did Bundy consider it more risky to commit crimes in Florida, or was he merely demonstrating his superiority over what he considered powerless authority?

Can I just pick up on something Math was talking about a wee while ago? (Post 9611)

>>In our supposedly 'barbaric' pre-christian past ...

>>...It also put responsibility for bringing up the offender and policing his behaviour upon his family, so as to avoid this form of 'collective' punishment.

It's not quite clear to me whether Math is advocating a return to this state of affairs or simply describing a historical situation. If the former...it does strike me as little......idealistic.

Consider that many perpetrators of crime come from broken commuities and dysfunctional families. We are now routinely seeing people going through the courts who come from families in their third generation of drug addiction. (and for children in front of Children's Panels, fourth). I wonder if these families can be relied upon to restrain offenders? Or are they, in fact, part of the problem that's responsible for manufacturing them.

It seems to me that our efforts on reducing crime should start with trying to fix broken families and communities. Broadly speaking, this sort of thing is called 'Social Work', and this is where I'd put the money. (We hear demands for more police, more nurses, more teachers...whenever did you hear anyone campaigning for more social workers?)

But we can't expect social work to be a sticking plaster over the cracks in society. It seems to me that looking to reforms if the crimibal justice system - no matter how radical - to reduce crime is somewhat missing the point. Do we not have to address also the reasons *why* communities and families are struggling? I suggest that it is something of a philosophical error to place the emphasis on the control or reform of individual behaviours. The factors that shape those behavious are structural. It is socio-economic changes that will make the *real* difference.

Math...I'm after a *post*-Christian solution, not a pre-Christian one.

I really do worry about what we are doing at the moment.

In a lot of ways my life isnt so different from that of those who brought me up in others its vastly different.

They only travelled abroad to point guns at people once I fly around the planet and trow up kebabs. They could barely read and write and were never asked to improve Im getting hassle from my boss about not completing my fourth NVQ in 6 years.

The measures for sucess have changed radically and yet some parts of our lives arent actually changing to respond to this. Im not convinced that the measuring itself and and us trying to meet these new bench marks are always good things.

Literacy is without doubt something that has a value all of its own regardless of the economic benefits toa person, region or state. Yet our sursuit of some ideals seem to have pushed out a more human relationship between those being educated and those who DEMAND others be educated.

People should WANT to be educated, WANT to be health, productive and happy that so many blatanly and knowingly choose paths that shorten their lives, increase their risk of incarceration and generally bring them misery is a sad thing.

Social work isnt the answer social re-arrangement is but there are too many people who are convinced that they have something to lose from a better fairer society and would rather simply salve their consciences by blaming those "at the bottom" or giving them solcial workers knowing nothing will change.

And what we know is that in societies with more equitable income distribution, people DO make better choices about education, health, crime...

Which is why we should be pragmatic: look at what's been tried, and see what actually works in the real world.

The ivory tower philosophising beloved by those at both extremes of the political spectrum strikes me as rather pointless, though sometimes interesting.

TRiG.

Well, indeed. Now...what we *do* know is that (broadly) social work-based solutions work better than purely punitive ones. We have a *lot* of evidence to back this up.

But as blicky said, this isn't the real answer.

What we also know (and we discussed this a few weeks ago on hootoo...but I've forgotten the name of the book we were discussing) is that there are strong, reliable correlations between the economic equality within countries and their crime levels. And health outcomes. And educational attainment...in fact...pretty much anything good.

It's almost embarssingly convenient that this supports a leftist view.

Who was it who said that reality has a strong liberal bias?

TRiG.

Stephen Colbert.

If I may contribute, here's the transcript, Trig: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0501-30.htm

and the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa-4E8ZDj9s
(the line is at about 6:42)

'I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.'

Well, the courts have struck back this time:

'A MOTHER has been found guilty of causing her diabetic daughter's death because she prayed for her rather than seeking medical help.


Leilani Neumann, 41, was convicted by a jury of reckless homicide'


Rationality prevails!



But, wait . . .



'but will appeal the decision, partly because expert testimony on faith healing was not allowed, The Wausau Daily Herald reports.'


http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25526027-23109,00.html



Expert testimony on faith healing? Wouldn't the experts on that be medical doctors?

'Tell me about Faith Healing and diabetes, Dr. Smith.'

'It doesn't work. Faith Healing doesn't cure diabetes!'

'The prosecution rests, your honour.'

put her away for a long time.

Absolutely.

Stick to alternative methods that have been proven to work, and use the rest in addition to the standard treatments.

In other words, yes to St Johns Wort for mild to moderate depression, because there are clinical trials to show it works as well or better than anti-depressants; and yes to learning pain management techniques that can replace pain-killers; but pray for your child while they are having their dialysis, not instead of it.

--

Jez

Hurrah - the Church unite against the BNP as they like us have nothing in common with them. Unite against the racist bigots:

"The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have urged voters not...to vote for the BNP in next month's elections.

'Dr' Rowan Williams and 'Dr' John Sentamu said it would be "tragic" if people abstained or voted BNP at the local and European elections....

The BNP said the bishops did not represent the views of the public."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8065583.stm

Ah, but here's some more...UNITE AGAINST THE ANTI-GAY BIGOTS!!!

"The Church of Scotland has voted to uphold the decision to appoint a gay minister to a church in Aberdeen."

OK fine!...but...

"In a late night vote on Saturday evening, the Kirk's ruling body voted by 326 to 267 in support of Mr Rennie, who is the Church of Scotland's first openly-gay minister."

i.e. 45% of the Kirks ruling body are bigots. And...

"More than 400 Kirk ministers and almost 5,000 Church of Scotland members are said to have signed an online petition organised by the Fellowship of Confessing Churches.

One of those ministers, the Reverend David Randall, said he believed that "a minister is somebody who ought to live by the Bible"."

Or put it a noth way: "a minister is somebody who ought to live by the Bible by cherry-picking stuff from it like everyone does but make sure they cherry pick the bit about man-on-man stuff being a sin...whereever that is."

I doubt whether John Sentamu will be going to Mr Rennies defence as Sentamu is one of the people who openly tried to get 'the Church' exempt from the anti-gay laws a few years ago...we love the sinner but not the sin.

The irony of a black man campaigning to be allowed to discriminate against a another part of society because they are different is of the scale...my irony-meter did indeed go *spoing*.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8064428.stm

>>45% of the Kirks ruling body are bigots. And...

Akshully...the Kirk doesn't have a ruling body. It is goverened by an Assembly of lay members.

Pedant!!!

nnnn...not *entirely* a pedantic point. It means that the congregation aren't so in thrall to the clergy. More vice-versa.

Religion can be a lot more complex then people blindly following their leaders.