You are currently browsing the The English Guy's Personal Blog weblog archives for December, 2009.

Posted at 10:36 am • Trackback Trackback

Posted in life

2 comments - Latest by:
  • richard
    Well it certainly was in his case. But he deserved, I think, for smuggling heroin.
  • macbros
    Well said. The same goes with any country. The punishment should be carried out in the country it was committed ...
 

Dec 29
2009

Posted by richard

All this hullabaloo about the execution of a convicted heroin smuggler. The fact is, he was found with 4 kg of heroin in a bag. Thus, a drug smuggler. China has severe laws regarding drug smuggling and frankly, I think we should too.

Everyone falls back on this “mental disability” nonsense when they’re going to be convicted of something, like this, or when being extradited, in the case of Gary McKinnon. What I’d like to know is, did Akmal Shaikh seek help before going to China to become a pop star (who on earth, at the age of 53, goes to a foreign country to become a pop star?!)? Did Gary McKinnon do that, before hacking into US computer systems?

The British Government needs to drop this and stop interfering with another country’s legal system. Certainly, the family could lodge appeals, but it’s not the Government’s place when the man has been found guilty, to intercede. Simply because we don’t have capital punishment for such crimes (it still exists here for treason, piracy), is not a good reason to wave the flag in front of China and whine like little girls.

To go into another country and to expect to be treated leniently when committing crimes, is lunacy.

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Posted at 4:26 am • Trackback Trackback

Posted in health

4 comments - Latest by:
  • Allen @ industrial printers
    The general public seldom see the bigger picture, so to keep the ignorant masses content they have to make this ...
  • richard
    See what you meant about the comments Mac. I don't think we should ban alcohol, but what I do think is ...
 

Dec 23
2009

Posted by richard

The UK has now made GBL a Class C drug. This, after a student named Hester Stewart died after having taken it. It was legal, and because she died, or at least contributing to it, it is now illegal.

Questions arise though. GBL is a solvent – what about those products that use GBL in them? Inks in industrial printers, they use GBL in significant quantities, are they to be changed to another solvent because of this? Are we to throw away those products that we have that contain it?

Also, why doesn’t the government put alcohol and tobacco into the same categories? Many MANY more die because of them each year, but they’re still legal. Doesn’t make sense does it?

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Posted at 6:49 am • Trackback Trackback

Posted in life

2 comments - Latest by:
  • macbros
    Still got lots here. Come and get it. :P
  • Christina
    I was so sad about missing out on a white Christmas that I actually made plans to spend the holidays ...
 

Dec 18
2009

Posted by richard

Could it be a white Christmas for the first time up here in years? It seems pretty promising, at least if the last few days are anything to go by. It’s been snowing, hailing, sleeting, on and off, and talking with friends and my dad in Sussex, there’s been several inches down there.

The flakes right now are coming down thick, but it’s intermittent. We’ll have 5 minutes of snow, then nothing for 30 minutes, so there’s no gathering of snow as it all melts too quickly.

Anyway, crossing fingers time, let’s hope it’s all picturesque for Christmas!

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Posted at 10:30 am • Trackback Trackback

Posted in featured

No comments so far - add one!
 

Dec 11
2009

Posted by richard

Apparently, the Copenhagen meeting that has been going on about the climate this week has come to a point where the EU has agreed to spend £6.5Bn to help developing nations fight climate change.

Wow. £6.5Bn, that’s an amazing amount. We can spend hundreds of billions of pounds fighting two wars (and I’m just talking about the UK here), we can spend £1.5 -Trillion- pounds on bailing out the banks, but the UK has managed to find a whopping £1.5Bn to fight climate change. The other European countries managed to find £5Bn.

Stunning.

It’s made it perfectly clear where our priorities are, don’t you think?

What makes me chuckle is this though – the western nations, and increasingly China too, fight wars over oil, to preserve the status quo; but if we didn’t fight those wars, and channeled money into developing eco-technologies like solar, wave, wind etc., and really make an effort, those businesses would be worth as much as oil is now, and would be renewable rather than finite…

Posted at 11:21 pm • Trackback Trackback

Posted in politics

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Dec 6
2009

Posted by richard

I have come to realise that the Labour government (I don’t say ‘my government’, please notice) only listens to advsiors when they say something they want to hear.

The reason I say this is because this morning we have Copenhagen conference starting, and Ed Miliband was on TV talking about his advisors telling him about climate change. Yet, when a well-respected professor talks about drugs (Professor Nutt) and that they should be reclassified, the government fires him.

While it may be difficult for people to believe that some drugs are not as bad as the government want us to believe, most of us believe in climate change (I’m not saying it doesn’t exist). Perhaps this is the reason, after all lots of money can be made from climate change technologies, relatively little can be made by restricting alcohol and permitting drugs such as ecstacy or marijuana.

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Posted at 2:49 am • Trackback Trackback

Posted in health

3 comments - Latest by:
  • Diane
    Rich- if they were to cure it there'd be a lot of money down the drain for the pharmaceutical companies. ...
  • macbros
    I think there is a point to it. Just as there is a point to your point about improving the ...
 

Dec 5
2009

Posted by richard

I see these all over the place, our “fight” against cancer. But I really wonder if we’re meant to fight or cure it? I mean there’s so many of us on the planet, perhaps cancer is nature’s way of culling us?

Despite decade after decade of trying to find cures, developing one nasty drug after another (and they really do a number on you, by most accounts), do we really believe we can test million upon million of chemical compounds for their effect on cancers?

Maybe we should focus on the quality of life, or the prevention instead of the cure? Encouraging healthy living, banning smoking, etc., these seem much more worthy goals than pouring money into an empty pit.

I had a friend with liver cancer, a 90-95% death sentence. He was told to go home and prepare. But he went online, found some natural remedy, and beat it off (along with the chemo), so I know it can be beaten. But the time effort and money that went into it was quite substantial, and he was lucky enough to have insurance.

It would be interesting to see where cancer foundations get their money, whether the citizen “let’s beat cancer” campaigns donate the most, or whether it’s from governments or private groups.

 
 

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