Maybe I’m getting old and grumpy (yes, yes, all right I am old and grumpy) but surely if you deliberately commit a crime you are forfeiting many of your rights as a citizen. I think it’s reasonable to say that the rights you are giving up vary with crime: not having a TV licence doesn’t mean that you are fair game for police marksmen, for example.

Breaking into a motorcycle shop is unlikely to be an accident. Stealing the motorcycles and driving away on them, even less so. We all know that riding motorcycles is a risky business but if you choose to do it then you must accept the consequences. If you are chased by the police because you are riding away on a bike that you have just stolen, and you have an accident, well TOUGH LUCK. Maybe you shouldn’t have broken in to the shop. Maybe you shouldn’t have removed the vehicle, got on it, started it and ridden away. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. I see no justification for the state allowing you to get away with it, just because otherwise you might hurt yourself.

I’m not criticising the police, the fault is with the policymakers and the courts that award damages to criminals who hurt themselves in the pursuit of their illegal activities.

Just sayin’.

Jupiter and the Moon

For those who enjoy the study of celestial bodies it was quite a big night tonight. If the skies were clear above you, you would have been able to see a full moon and, just below and to the right, a very bright star. Except it wasn’t a star, it was Jupiter.

We’ve all been spoiled somewhat by the images sent back from various ’space probes’ over the years, and I guess we all have a pretty good idea what Jupiter looks like.

The bright dot in the sky tonight was, well, a bright dot in the sky (at least, that’s all I could see with the primitive technology available to me). So not very exciting really.

Except that I did find it just a little bit exciting. The thought that I was looking at something so massive, so important to our welfare, so far away and yet, relatively, so close. I’m not very romantic or prone to emotion, but for a fleeting moment the ‘joybringer’ did something for me.

As I understand it, President Obama wants to make it possible for everyone to receive medical care regardless of their means. A noble ideal, but someone still has to pay for it. In other words, taxes. This has caused a bit of a ruckus in the US, with the loud voices at either end of the political spectrum grabbing the headlines: down with taxes/don’t kill my baby; you know the sort of thing. Naturally there are also the (somewhat more subtle) corporates, lobbyists, pressure groups and so on, feeding money and (mis)information to those doing the shouting.

Daring Fireball has a couple of amusing (kind of) anecdotes:

From an Investor’s Business Daily editorial ¹ arguing against the current U.S. health care reform proposals:

“The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) basically figures out who deserves treatment by using a cost-utility analysis based on the “quality adjusted life year.” One year in perfect health gets you one point. Deductions are taken for blindness, for being in a wheelchair and so on. The more points you have, the more your life is considered worth saving, and the likelier you are to get care.”

“People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.”

Stephen Hawking was born and has lived his entire life in the U.K.

and

Anti-health-care-reform activist, reportedly injured in a fight at a town hall meeting last week, is collecting donations to pay his medical bills because he was recently laid off and lost his health insurance. [more]

I read both of these with a sense of wonder and despair. The inaccuracy and hypocrisy shown is astonishing and made me wonder if many US citizens are taken in by this stuff. I suppose there must be quite a few, or it wouldn’t be worth publishing. And yes, I have seen Fox News.

Society, community, nation: surely these terms imply some kind of structure of care, of support for those who (hopefully temporarily) cannot support themselves? It would be easy to believe that those who have the resources are simply unwilling to share and that the flip side of ‘land of opportunity’ is ‘tough luck if you don’t succeed’. Systems such as those in Britain and Ireland may be far from perfect but they at least attempt to be humane.

I started to think about The American Ideal (or my understanding of it); how it has been corrupted and where, ultimately, it will take the USA. Immediately my mind conjured up images of anarchy; a sort of ‘Mad Max’ post-apocalyptic scenario where it’s every person for themselves and the only law comes from the barrel of a gun.

I can only hope I am very wrong, and as I said I am only seeing this through the eyes of the media.

1. since edited, removing refernces to Stephen Hawking ↑

New display units make the bread look so yummy and touchable.

On recent visits to Tesco stores in Castlebar and Westport, we noticed these new display units for bread. Almost rustic, they do look good and the bread within looks really yummy.

Stand back and watch, however, and you’ll soon be put off. Most of the bread is not wrapped. Disposable gloves are provided so you can handle the bread – somehow you are drawn in and feel an almost primitive urge to touch and squeeze – but how many people will use them?

In less than five minutes, I watched four people approach, ignore the gloves, handle several loaves and walk away. One man lifted and squeezed just about every loaf on the display.

Oh, and the flies. Not quite a plague, but more than two or three were buzzing round, landing on loaf after loaf.

An attractive display then, great in theory but disgusting in practice. Shame.

The report, a massive work that has taken nine years to compile, documents the enormous scale of the abuses – every type imaginable – inflicted on both boys and girls by the, supposedly Christian, people responsible for their education and welfare. It documents the awareness of the abuses, some might say collusion, of both the Irish State and the Catholic Church. What the report does not document, thanks to a High Court ruling in 2004, is the names of the guilty parties.

Much has been written and broadcast about the report, by people far more qualified to comment than I am. Indeed, the abuses are not really news. These appalling abuses have been widely recognised for some considerable time, but the report brings together many of the stories of the victims and highlights the scale of the tragedy. It is important for all of us to be aware of what happened, in the hope that a blind eye is never again turned towards such dreadful crimes.

Read more about the abuses committed by the Catholic Church in Ireland by clicking this link.

11:47 AM Mar 10th from Tweetie
…or gallbladder problem. Feel a bit high but still some pain.

11:52 AM Mar 10th from web
@filce: My God. Hope you get a speed diagnosis, resolution and recovery. My best wishes to you.

11:55 AM Mar 10th from web
@ray888: all the best – get well soon

12:11 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
@filce @ray888 thanks very much, means a lot. Just about to arrive at A&E. More later…

1:44 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
Blood & urine taken. Am on trolley in A&E waiting for test results. Excellent service so far, no complaints.

4:24 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
Just arrived Ward B, my home for tonight. ECG ok, blood & urine ok, blood pressure a bit high. Currently gallbladder and stomach suspected.

4:26 PM Mar 10th from twhirl
@cbkerndter: what happened?

4:32 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
@cbkerndter woke up last night with bad stomach pain – I mean really bad. Dr this morning, morphine & straight to A&E. More tests tomorrow.

4:33 PM Mar 10th from twhirl
@cbkerndter: outch wish you well

4:44 PM Mar 10th from web
@filce: Well your day has sure changed. I think, given events, you are in the best place. Hopefully they’ll be news soon.

4:45 PM Mar 10th from web
@filce: ‘blood pressure a bit high’ – lol – why would that be?

6:29 PM Mar 10th from TweetDeck
@finkeegan: Sorry to hear you had such a painful experience!

7:49 PM Mar 10th from Tweetie
V. excited, just had another shot of morphine: I relish the blissful release heading my way. Thanks, all, for your messages.

8:08 PM Mar 10th from web
@Andiepowpow: Sorry to hear you’re ill Al. Hope you feel better soon. Hope that Morphine doesnt make your nose too itchy x

11:30 AM Mar 11th from Tweetie
Still in hospital awaiting ultrasound scan. Better night last night, thanks to intravenous drugs, but still plenty of pain.

11:57 AM Mar 11th from twhirl
@jellyjumper: hopefully you will be better soon. greetings from Achill

4:08 PM Mar 11th from Tweetie
Ultrasound says…twins! But seriously, I have gallstones. Don’t know what happens now – hopefully it involves food & water.

4:10 PM Mar 11th from web
@sineadailillhi: my dad had gallstones last year, got them out with simple keyhole surgery, was home the next day and is great now

4:28 PM Mar 11th from web
@filce: Glad it’s gallstones and nothing more sinister. Been thinking about how you’re doing on and off all day. Must of been scary.

4:45 PM Mar 11th from TweetDeck
@finkeegan: Well, pain aside, at least they are benign and removable. So that is good news, right? *googles “how avoid gallstones”*

4:57 PM Mar 11th from web
@ray888: hopefully the passing of gallstones, will be a lot less painfull than a man giving birth to twins

11:52 AM Mar 12th from Tweetie
Still in hosp, awaiting ‘official’ diagnosis. Thanks for all your kind and supportive messages. Will reply individually when I get home.

4:43 PM Mar 12th from TwitterBerry
@Yuyis: hope you get well soon……. Take good care…. )

2:34 PM Mar 13th from web
@filce: How are you doing today? Did you get a proper diagnosis in the end? Hope you’re comfortable and all that.

4:43 PM Mar 13th from Tweetie
Diagnosis official (gallstones). Am allowed to eat now – w00t! Might be released Sunday. Feeling much better, and promise to eat my 5-a-day!

10:54 AM Mar 14th from Tweetie
“I’m coming home, I’ve done my time…” paroled early for good behaviour! Feeling so much better. Will miss the hospital food, of course.

11:35 AM Mar 14th from TweetDeck
@Lifelists: Alistair Steger-Lewis……You have been evicted, I’m coming to get you!!!!!!!!!!!

have you seen this man?

JP Grealis has been missing since November of last year and his family and friends of would greatly appreciate any help or information in finding him.

JP (James Patrick) Grealis from Tonragee, Achill, Co Mayo, Ireland
Nationality: Irish
Date of Birth: 14/03/1984 (24 years old)
Hair: Red (curly/wavy)
Height: approx.1.75 meter/ approx 5’ 9’’
Build: Slim build with broad shoulders
Clothes: Generally wears T-shirts, jeans, hoodies etc (he has a habit of walking with his sleeves pulled down over his hands)
General Information: Smoker, works in construction industry, likes to socialize

JP was working in the Netherlands when he went missing in November 2008. He last phoned home from Breda on the 23rd October, 2008. He was last seen in the Dutch city of Eindhoven during the 1st week of November 2008. It is thought he may have travelled to Rotterdam in November. He may, of course, have left the Netherlands so the search extends to Belgium, Germany and other European countries.

If you have any information regarding JP, please contact:
his sister Clare at 00 353 (0)87 2393993 or clare.grealis@gmail.com
the Irish Police on 00 353 (0)98 20830
or the Dutch Police on 00 31 (0)79-345 8882 (case number 08261250 for Dutch Police).

Thank you for your help

I decided to watch both versions of episode 1 so that I could see how much had been added in the XL edit, but from now on I shall stick to the longer version. Not only was there more of the playful banter, there was also more substantive content. I was particularly interested in the proclivity of German authorities for collecting underwear. These collections apparently make up a ’smells database’ of possible dissidents and undesirables, and hence I assume we are talking about dirty underwear. Fascinating. I wonder how many applications there are for the post of curator.

It makes me wonder what the future holds for the regular ‘half-hour’ show? I would happily sit through an hour long version of shows like QI and HIGNFY, and it seems there is plenty of material to stretch them. Perhaps the ‘40 minute’ version will become the norm, as portions have grown in so many areas of life, unless the schedulers deem it impractical.

As I grow older I find less and less tv appeals to me, so welcome back to a quality show.

This preamble is, of course, by way of introducing the subject of new year resolutions. Not that I really hold with the concept. It’s all a bit arbitrary really and I’m quite capable of putting myself under unnecessary pressure at any time of year, thank you very much. If pushed I will, likely as not, claim to have resolved to be even more lazy, greedy, naughty &c.

This year, however, may be different. No, really. Hear me out.

It’s likely to be an odd year for many of us, thanks to the bad behaviour of all those greedy bankers and stupid politicians (nothing to do with our own greed and consumption). Many jobs will be lost, companies will close or take the opportunity for some serious pruning, and governments will have to cut back in all sorts of areas as well as raising billions to keep essential services running. We know this, it’s not news.

Perhaps this change of circumstances is an opportunity to reflect on our lives and lifestyles. A time when we may as well bite the bullet, take control, try to be masters of our own destiny. OK, that last bit sounds ridiculous – I’m in danger of drifting into some kind of meaningless, clichéd, buzzword-laden oration, like so many in business and politics over the last few years. Forgive me.

What I mean to say is that 2009 will probably be different in many ways from the previous several years, which makes me feel that I should at least try to change myself for the better. We’re only 5 days into the new year so it’s possible I could be subconsciously surfing the wave of euphoria so often generated on January 1. I may feel quite different next week.

Nevertheless, it is my intention this year to focus on two principles: less reading, more writing; less thinking, more doing. I will have my list of specific goals, but these are mainly just things that have to be done at some point anyway. The (intended) difference this year is that I will achieve more. I will. Really. I will vanquish (or at least damage) the inner cynic. And why not? If I can stop smoking after more than 3 decades of weed-worship, a few other changes shouldn’t be too difficult.

There we are. The single step that starts my new journey. Thank you for humouring me, and watch this space!