Feeling a bit tired this morning. Late nights and early mornings catching up with me I think. Or maybe it’s the big news week we have had. All the excitement may be getting to me!
We have had days of rioting in London, global financial meltdowns, boat people arriving, the seemingly never ending carping about the Carbon Tax and of course Cadel Evans arriving back in Melbourne for today’s Tour de France Victory Parade in the centre of the city. No wonder I feel tired! Watching TV in a week like this can make your head spin.
The rioting in London has been terrible. The initial reason for the trouble, a man being shot dead by police seems to have been forgotten and many of the underclass in Britain and many who are not decided it was an opportune time to engage in anarchy! Now times are tough and the British Government has cut a lot of programs for youth unemployment and in such times there is always resentment bubbling under and it sometimes only takes one incident such as this shooting to light the touch paper.
The more worrying thing as far as I’m concerned is the amount of people charged who are coming from seemingly well adjusted, middle class backgrounds. There does seem to be a degradation in respect for other people, their property and institutions amongst many people in Western society and a lot of people who seem to think life owes them more than what they really deserve so when the opportunity arises to take something without worrying about consequences many people jump at the chance. It’s a sad trend and I’m not sure what the answer is except perhaps that it is time to start trying to instill better standards on society. If you want to live in that society you have to obey the laws otherwise anarchy reigns as we have seen. And it could happen here in Australia too as conditions are certainly similar to what is happening in Britain. 50 years of bad social policy have lead us to this point, let’s get rid of the social engineers and get back to some real values again.
I had a giggle at the number of people advocating a return to conscription. Yep, the British Army would really enjoy whipping those recruits into shape! I would imagine most of them wouldn’t make it off the drill square. Why should a drill sergeant have to do what a parent has failed to do?
The army is not an instrument for social change. It is the ultimate problem solver for the government. They only want the best people they can get, not the scum of society and those who can’t obey the law. We need better ideas than a return to conscription.
At least we are ending the week on a lighter and happier note. Cadel Evans arrived in Melbourne yesterday and is having his Tour de France win celebrated with a parade down St Kilda Road today. He has been all over the news and radio and I think has impressed everyone with his unassuming demeanor and modest recollections of the events of the Tour. Makes a difference to the boofheads who play Rugby League and Aussie Rules who we have to put up with for the rest of the sporting year.
Who would have thought that a cyclist would have politicians jostling for his favour and the local networks battling for exclusive interviews? Doesn’t hurt that his wife is stunner too!
I saw the interview he did when he got off the plane at Tullamarine yesterday and it almost brought a tear to my eye when he said that the main reason he was coming home for such a whirlwind stopover was to share his victory with Australia and all those who had supported him through the years. He didn’t have to come. But he did. Chapeau Cadel, you are a real champion!
We have had days of rioting in London, global financial meltdowns, boat people arriving, the seemingly never ending carping about the Carbon Tax and of course Cadel Evans arriving back in Melbourne for today’s Tour de France Victory Parade in the centre of the city. No wonder I feel tired! Watching TV in a week like this can make your head spin.
The rioting in London has been terrible. The initial reason for the trouble, a man being shot dead by police seems to have been forgotten and many of the underclass in Britain and many who are not decided it was an opportune time to engage in anarchy! Now times are tough and the British Government has cut a lot of programs for youth unemployment and in such times there is always resentment bubbling under and it sometimes only takes one incident such as this shooting to light the touch paper.
The more worrying thing as far as I’m concerned is the amount of people charged who are coming from seemingly well adjusted, middle class backgrounds. There does seem to be a degradation in respect for other people, their property and institutions amongst many people in Western society and a lot of people who seem to think life owes them more than what they really deserve so when the opportunity arises to take something without worrying about consequences many people jump at the chance. It’s a sad trend and I’m not sure what the answer is except perhaps that it is time to start trying to instill better standards on society. If you want to live in that society you have to obey the laws otherwise anarchy reigns as we have seen. And it could happen here in Australia too as conditions are certainly similar to what is happening in Britain. 50 years of bad social policy have lead us to this point, let’s get rid of the social engineers and get back to some real values again.
I had a giggle at the number of people advocating a return to conscription. Yep, the British Army would really enjoy whipping those recruits into shape! I would imagine most of them wouldn’t make it off the drill square. Why should a drill sergeant have to do what a parent has failed to do?
The army is not an instrument for social change. It is the ultimate problem solver for the government. They only want the best people they can get, not the scum of society and those who can’t obey the law. We need better ideas than a return to conscription.
At least we are ending the week on a lighter and happier note. Cadel Evans arrived in Melbourne yesterday and is having his Tour de France win celebrated with a parade down St Kilda Road today. He has been all over the news and radio and I think has impressed everyone with his unassuming demeanor and modest recollections of the events of the Tour. Makes a difference to the boofheads who play Rugby League and Aussie Rules who we have to put up with for the rest of the sporting year.
Who would have thought that a cyclist would have politicians jostling for his favour and the local networks battling for exclusive interviews? Doesn’t hurt that his wife is stunner too!
I saw the interview he did when he got off the plane at Tullamarine yesterday and it almost brought a tear to my eye when he said that the main reason he was coming home for such a whirlwind stopover was to share his victory with Australia and all those who had supported him through the years. He didn’t have to come. But he did. Chapeau Cadel, you are a real champion!
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 