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

Just now on the news on the radio they said documents have been discovered in Gaddafi's compound to show co-operation between his regime and MI5 and MI6 to do with flying terror suspects there for 'questioning'.

We have spent god knows how many millions bombing the place, 'protecting civilians'.

And on the same news, the government is to scrap a scheme which allows old people and disabled people subsidised coach travel so they can get out and about more...

"Extraordinary rendition" they call it, don't they? Sickening.

And I heard about the bus pass thing on the news today. Sounds like the sort of penny-pinching false economy I'd expect of right wingers. As was pointed out, an active social life improves people's health, and older people often need to travel for such a social life. This will probably cost them money in the long run. Here in Ireland, older people and certain disabled people have free train (and I think bus) travel. There was a scheme to do the same in Northern Ireland. I don't know whether that's been affected by this.

TRiG.

We've had a small scale version of that sort of stuff (Government cutting very im`portant `programmes to 'save money') going on here over the last week (but without the war). There's this `process in our ~Provincial court system called Restorative Justice in which the `perps of some crimes meet their victims, here the story of the harm they've done and then are required to do some sort of restitution rather than clog up the jails. It is universally thought to be a usefull and cost-effective system. So . . .

solely in order to meet budget requirements from the ~Premier's Office, the Solicitor General cut off funding to the Restorative Justice ~Program.


~Perha`ps fortunately, there ha`p`pens to be a leadership` cam`paign on for the governing `party. Every `person running to re`place the ~Premier immediately announced they would restore funding for Restorative Justice. Then the Solicitor General tried to save his own hide by throwing the `present ~Premier under the bus, saying he was just following orders and would like to restore funding.

At least in this case it looks like common sense will, for once, `prevail.

I hope it does come back anhaga. I think ideas where people can face what they've done can be very beneficial to both sides. It would be so easy for someone to rot in prison and just dehumanise the victim in their mind..until they get out and do it again.

I wish we could have had a bit more of that here post riots. The other day an 11 year old was put on some sort of youth re-habilitation programme for 18 months for stealing a bin in the riots. I'm fairly sure these youth re-habilitation programmes involve mixing with other young thugs..because yes there are some genuinely unpleasant youngsters.

And of course its going to affect his schooling, psychological state and probably future life in all sorts of ways.

In a way I'm more angry about that than all the people they are stuffing into the prisons. But yes if those rioters could maybe face people in the community whose businesses they destroyed and old people who were so terrified that it took some of them a week before they could leave their houses..it might be more helpful.

I just hope that 11 year old who stole a bin isn't too crippled by this so called re-habilitation programme. What 18 months to rehabilitate someone from the crime of stealing a bin?

But at least you aren't having the hypocrisy daily shoved down your throats that the bombing isn't about anything other than about oil.

Abolishing that coach scheme will almost certainly mean a lot more people rotting indoors now.

We've got a bunch of planes over in Libya bombing as well. I kind of wish we had more being shoved down our throats about it because we pretty much never hear any mention of what our Air Force is doing over there.

I'm sure the Restorative Justice funding will be back: too many have made promises to make `political hay for it to be abandoned now.


Meanwhile, we have a Prime Minister who has vowed to spend billions on building new prisons despite the clear evidence from his own government agencies that the crime rate in Canada has been consistently dropping for decades.

Oh. dear.
Please, say the government are not so stupid as to scrap the OAP bus pass?! They've been warned, my Father wrote them a letter months back, if they don't heed it... oh dear...

Its OK to spend billions, over severl continents, killing people. excellent.
Give a few OAPs and disabled people free bus travel, and 1/3 off train travel, costing virtually nothing, and, yep, the idiots at the government think its best to cut the one that doesn't cost anything, in real terms... excellent...
Of course, quite why, and I've never worked this out, we, the tax payers, hence the government, still pay money too, the so-called privatised rail companys, in order they can make bigger profets to benifit their share holders, is... baffling...
*rest of this post unwritten for legal, social, ethical and mainly seary reason*

I'm not sure entirely which thing they are scrapping. But its something about coach travel for old and disabled people..but it'll be other stuff soon.

I just got a letter today from the local mental health arts group today to say their major funding has been taken away. They will try to limp on.

And still we have millions for Afghan in an utterly pointless unwinable war, Libya, and somewhere else next no doubt. And now the bankers bonuses are up to billions again in total.

I shall, as a disabled person, follow my Father, on the march, to demolish, the palace of Westminster, brick by brick, by hand, if they do this... They've lost their minds if they think they can get that though without the biggest, most vilent, costly set of protests this country, or most others within Europe, have ever seen... <evilgrin. I kid, ye. not... no way... not a chance... they'll cave in... eventually...

yep I'm getting that way. And I just heard the most unbelievably disturbing advert on a radio station for recruits for the territorial army. You know the government policy now is to use more part time soldiers to save money and cut back the regular army.

In this advert for the territorials the person was getting all excited by being on the front line and war action happening..I think under fire or something..but like incredibly excited. So its like they are appealing to the average person's fantasy about war to get them to sign up.

At least regular soldiers take a very professional approach to it.

And of course this is also all due to saving money....oh so we can fight more wars.

I bet the CoD:Black Ops players would be creaming to that one, Effers

Its quite strange on the news on the music station I've taken to listening to obsessionally is that all the talk this morning was of documents implicating MI5 and MI6..and now all that is mentioned is the CIA.

I haven't listened to or looked up any other news source apart from this station's. But that pattern is interesting.