Mad Britain

I’m not really into politics but watching the news yesterday several things alarmed me, made me think that good old Blighty is becoming madder then ever.

First up was the new EU directive on road signs and measures the government plan to introduce. Gone is the pint for some new fangled Euro measurement and the mile and acre will go as well, mad. Imagine losing the good old British phrase of ‘Are we going for a pint?’

Then there’s new government legislation to make downloading certain types of porn illegal, it was termed as ‘images seen as degrading, violent or of people being restrained’. I’m all for stamping out images of kids or so called snuff movies as there is no place in society for that evil but I think people should be able to download porn if they want to, the chances are they have to pay for it anyway. As people we are all diverse in what turns us on sexually and it’s not really right for the government to dictate to people unless of course it is illegal. There are thousands of people out there into bdsm, domination and the fetish scene in general, who are just normal everyday people with a penchant for something different and that is their choice or preference. Next they’ll be trying to ban sites for gay or lesbian people, to me it all smacks of something sinister when I thought we as a nation were quite liberal.

Next up was the school in Northampton that’s allowing pupils to swear in class, it’s the brain child of the headmaster there who says its part of the culture nowadays, well he may have a point but call me old fashioned but do we really need to propagate the use of swearing? Media, society and movies do it for us!

Another headline to grab me was gas prices rising again, the news stating that gas prices have gone up on average £100 over the last 2 years. Pensioners saying that their pension rises aren’t covering increasing bills. So we have scenarios where old people are afraid to put the kettle on in fear of the next gas bill. I find it sad really, especially when gas company directors probably retire on a fat hand out to the south of France where they won’t have to worry about heating on their sun kissed yacht.

Then of course, there were the crimes on the news, woman shot at christening by youths, woman and child set fire to in their home by youths – I guess these headlines seem common place these days.

If only they had a happy alternative to the news, full of good headlines. Oh well, I still love this country despite the above concerns, I suppose it could be worse – I could live in America.