A Quick Linguistic Explanation

Basically I’m from the south-east of England and live in the north-west in Manchester. Since I’m a wee bit sick of non-linguists trying to tell me how I pronounce “r” in words like car, bath and grass (See here for a sound version) I’m going to explain the difference between the long “A” vowel in English and the rhotic consonant.

Initially the main difference between consonants and vowels is that vowels do not restrict the air as it leaves your lungs. Wikipedia puts it like this:

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! [ɑː] or oh! [oʊ], pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! [ʃː], where there is a constriction or closure at some point along the vocal tract. A vowel is also understood to be syllabic: an equivalent open but non-syllabic sound is called a semivowel.

Immediately you see our friend the long “A” vowel mentioned. Standard English uses that vowel in words such as car (written in phonetics as [kɑː]), bath and grass. Now grass is an interesting one because it has an actual rhotic consonant in it, before the vowel (not after like every northerner I speak to seems to think).

Consonants restrict the air either with the tongue, the lips, the teeth or any of the other articulators of speech. Think of how you pronounce “P”. You actually hold the air back with your lips before releasing it, something you don’t do for the around 20ish vowel sounds in English. The rhotic consonant “R” is similar, you control the air further down your throat so it makes the right sound.

Standard English* does not pronounce terminal-r in words like car, far and bar (see here for another sound file). What a speaker of Standard English actually says is something like “kaa”, “faa” and “baa”. Accents in the South-East of England are the closest to standard you could get without going to somewhere that teaches Received Pronunciation. So when you think I’m pronouncing “r” where I shouldn’t be, you’re wrong. I am in fact using the correct vowel sound for my accent. Here’s what wiki has to say about the spread of rhotic accents in the UK:

In England, rhotic accents are found in the West Country (south and west of a line from near Shrewsbury to around Portsmouth), the Corby area, most of Lancashire (north and east of the center of Manchester), some parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and in the areas that border Scotland. The prestige form, however, exerts a steady pressure towards non-rhoticity. Thus the urban speech of Bristol or Southampton is more accurately described as variably rhotic, the degree of rhoticity being reduced as one moves up the class and formality scales.^[17]

So there you have it. Please do not tell me I pronounce “R” when I shouldn’t in future. I really don’t want to have to teach you all this again.
Ad

xx

*I am obviously talking about Standard English in England. Scottish varieties are invariably rhotic and American Standard English is actually rhotic, which would explain the confusion for non-linguists as so much damn American TV is shown here.

Heart of Stone

It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog. About 7 months if I recall correctly. This last year has been incredibly difficult for me. In fact it’s probably been the hardest year of my life so far and I’m surprised I’ve come through it in one piece. To be honest I know I’ve changed. But that’s not what this blog is about. Today I’m (once again) going to talk about my string of failed romances.

It’s been almost year that I’ve been single. Once upon a time I would have found even three months incredibly difficult but it feels like the time has sailed by. I think I’ve learned a little bit about myself in that time which is good because before I’m not entirely sure I had a concrete identity. Unlike a lot of my contemporaries I really don’t see my sexuality as the whole of me. I know gay guys who almost use campness and stereotype as a shield and I myself have been guilty of that before. But it’s a single facet of a larger thing, a brushstroke in the painting of life. So in terms of my actual identity, who I take to bed isn’t that important to me. That’s probably because my parents accepted that I’m gay fairly easily so I still had that support network and didn’t have to create one for myself. Do I sometimes want to fit in better with the rest of the scene? Sometimes. But I’m just much too geeky for that I’m afraid. Anyway, I was talking about identity wasn’t I? The thing that most defines me I’ve discovered is the fact that I’ve been a responsible adult since I was about 7. Don’t get me wrong this is in no way a bad thing but my parent’s separation did force me to grow up. I’ve never been the silly idiot that gets pissed and trashes the house. In fact I’m more likely to clean when I’m drunk to be honest. I’ve learned that I can happily turn a defeat into a success, after all I should be in France this year but instead I’m working full time. Am I upset? Not really, it’ll be good for my CV and I’m working for a really good company. I live in a great house with great people, have great friends and (for the most part) a good family. It is from these things that I get my identity.

However, I am reaching the point where I do want to see someone long term. The reappearance of a long-term crush has kind of helped that feeling along a lot along with having slept with him several times now. Now for a lot of people that would be enough, a new fuck buddy to mess around with but oh no, I’m a bloody romantic idiot. Herein lies the conflict. Let’s look at my history shall we?

• 1^st Boyfriend: Cheated on me and then outed me at school.
• 2^nd Boyfriend: A hyper-Christian nut who I then cheated on with…
• 3^rd Boyfriend: Great guy who is now a very good friend, although he cheated on me, caught the clap and I had to take a course of antibiotics for it.
• 4^th Boyfriend: Was a great guy (please take note of the past tense) who got incredibly oppressive when I went to uni and the relationship turned abusive. I then cheated and we broke up causing a year of pain and torment for pretty much everyone involved.

So you can forgive me for wanting something more, right? Someone to look after me from time to time? Anyway, this crush guy, let’s call him H, I’ve fancied him for about 3 years, which is pretty much the duration of Boyfriend Number 4 and he’s now in Manchester for uni. Aside from general teasing/flirting nothing happened between us until last Sunday when he came over for drinks before my friend David came up the next day. We slept together. H stayed round Monday. We slept together. He came round Tuesday. We slept together. Wednesday I didn’t see him. Thursday we all went to Cruz and guess what? Me and H slept together. Friday and Saturday very minimal communication. Sunday I was going to take H for drinks, a proper date. But as I’m writing this at 23.32 on Sunday night I think you can guess what happened. No communication so no date. This has thrown me for a bit of a loop and since I’m not telepathic (God I wish I was) it’s impossible to know what he’s thinking without asking him the blunt question of “What do you think of me?”. I dunno.

Actually I do. I give up. I’m joining a monastery tomorrow morning.

Ad

xx

Insomnia and other illnesses of the mind

So, I’ve spent another night without any sleep whatsoever, mostly watching stuff on YouTube and actually recording things to go up on my channel (which can be found here). I know it’s been a really long time since I blogged and even longer since I recorded a vlog which I apologise for although I can’t help but feel that I really only do this for my own benefit.

Well then let’s get started shall we? Where to begin? I’m dating someone new (which should create a chorus of “What’s new Adam?”) which is interested because so far it’s likely to last longer than 2 weeks. His name is Phil and aside from being massively commitment phobic, a mental illness which affects everything with a Y chromosome, he’s a very genuine, funny guy. Things are plodding along at a good pace and I’m not rushing which is something considering by now I would normally be looking at wedding china. I suffer from a romantic streak which likes to assert itself the moment any man genuinely shows any kind of interest in me. This tends to scare people off but so far I’ve managed to keep it under wraps. Basically I’m letting him drive and enjoying the scenery as I go along with it. I can’t be a control freak my whole life after all.

Oh I’m job hunting at the moment which isn’t going too well since all the half-way decent studenty type jobs went months ago but I’m hopeful that since term ends soon that my colleagues will sod off to whatever small towns and villages they come from, leaving me able to fall into something that I can do with the flair and style that only an ex-Currys employee can do. And since I’ve pretty much failed this year at uni I’m hoping I’ll be able to work this summer, find myself a new place and start again in October ready to hit the books like I intended to last year. Fingers crossed no family emergencies crop up unannounced like the toadstools of death that they are.

I’m kinda expecting a huge backlash at 2 of my 3 new videos since the last time I posted a vid it was about the BNP winning two seats at the European elections and that garnered rather a lot of insulting and homophobic comments. Something in my character likes a confrontation though so I guess I shall just have to relish it. Either that or ignore the right wing idiots who don’t seem to understand that by calling me a “poof” or a “fag” they’re actually backing up my argument that the BNP is a fundamentally racist, homophobic organisation that has no right to represent anyone in this socially liberal country. We’ll see won’t we, gentle reader.

I’m getting back into writing, especially in French which is something. Don’t expect any of it to be put on here or anywhere else since I’m just sketching out ideas for various short stories that have been bubbling about in my mind. That’s one of the other illnesses I meant in the title, that awful creative streak that only finds satisfaction in writing complete drivel because I can’t dance, sing, act, paint or draw. Basically words are all I have, to quote Boyzone and sadly at the moment I’m not a skilled writer, except when it comes to this fetid part of the internet where I can be truly bitchy and horrible.

I saw Lady Gaga last Thursday and I have to say that she is frankly amazing live. She can sing, her dancing is reasonable but it is in set design that her shows really excel. We had a burning piano, a broken down car, a subway train, a massive anamatronic monster and a living dress, all of which wowed the audience. Considering she’s only been around for about 2 years her stage presence is incredible. I will admit that she is following the “How to be rich and famous for dummies” guide written by Madonna, with the right amount of controversy and well-written pop to pique the public’s interest but to be honest I don’t care. I know she’s heavily influenced by several artists (even her name is a throwback to Queen) but it’s been too long since a recording artist realised that not only do you need well sung songs but you also need a commanding knowledge of theatrics in order to truly become legendary. And she is very muchly on her way to that.

Anyway, I need some sleep so I will talk to you again soon dear readers,

Ad

xx

Why is it always Zombies?

Video game culture has an addiction. And I’m not talking about gamers love of Red Bull or of that World of Warcraft habit you just can’t shake. I am of course referring to zombies or as they would probably prefer to be called the living-challenged.

Zombies crop up in games on every platform and even of every genre. Action games? Well at the moment you’ve got Resident Evil and Dead Rising for that. First-person Shooters? Well obviously Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 fill that void. JRPGs? Well off the top of my head zombies have appeared in every Final Fantasy game ever released with zombie even being a status ailment in some games. The list goes on. The only game genre I can think of without zombies is racing and even then I’m not sure Dead Bones in Mario Kart doesn’t count. Why is it that gaming as an art form seems obsessed with the possibility of an apocalypse caused by a tide of walking corpses?

I have no idea but it’s not something that’s likely to go away any time soon. Zombies in games have been with us pretty much since gaming began back in the 70s. What has changed is the cause of the necrotic nightmare. In earlier games zombies were usual the result of unwarranted tinkering with dark forces. Think of the Castlevania series and you’ll know what I mean. Ramshackle, low level enemies risen from the grave by an angry Dracula just to feast on your tender, fleshy brains. More recently however, zombie outbreaks have been caused by either diseases or by scientist pissing about with the natural order of things. Think of Umbrella in Resident Evil or of the Infected in Left 4 Dead. In both cases the zombies aren’t old corpses risen from graveyards but are in fact living humans infected with an evil virus that kills you and then re-animates your corpse. This is an interesting shift. It reflects our (and here I’m a talking from a Western perspective) shift from a more religious, spiritual culture to one that depends upon science and technology more and more. I think that this emphasis on zombies reflects our primal fear that we could easily be our undoing. The common theme in both types of zombie narrative, the mystical and the scientific, is that it is man poking around in what he shouldn’t that brings down the zombie apocalypse on our heads. These fears even come to the surface in our mainstream culture. Look at the worries about how CERN could create a black hole under Switzerland (although if I were going to create a black hole on Earth, I’d wanna take out the Swiss first too). What about the Terminator movies? A large corporation creates mega-machines of death and the human race is almost wiped out. Replace mega-machines of death with zombies and you pretty much have the Umbrella corporation from every Resident Evil game (except 4 but then 4 had a reasonable plot that didn’t try to shove the convoluted backstory down your throat). I guess what I’m saying is that the zombie game fills a need to express our fears about humanity’s own curiosity.

In that way, zombie games could almost be our Pandora’s Box.

Ad

xx

Fallen Angel

Right as some of you may or may not know I had my laptop stolen from my house. The following blog was written over several days a few weeks ago using that primitive method of a pen and paper. Please excuse the general melancholy and depression of it. So without further adieu, here it is:

It’s been a long time since I did one of these and even longer since I was forced to commit my thoughts to paper. Some of you may know that last Saturday I was burgled. My laptop, essentially my academic, and literally my social lifeline was stolen while I was out. It was my own fault. I felt safe enough in Fallowfield that I left my window open. Someone saw a chance and took it. Luckily my insurance covers it, although the police were the biggest waste of time, no surprise there. Anyway, I am “sans portable” so I’m back to using that most basic of writing tools, pen and paper. It’s actually a very cathartic seeing the black ink fill the page in my own handwriting instead of seeing a white box fill with artificial lettering. My lack of laptop has also forced me to revisit my attempts to write fiction. I may well finish a story I started back before Christmas. I have new ideas, not just limited to fantasy, swimming in my mind and I expect to see myself finishing a short story that I’ve been thinking about for some time. Watch this space folks! Well my blog. The space I’m filling is in the back of my notebook and I doubt many of you could decipher my handwriting so i had better get on with it.

So what have I been up to? Uni mostly and with any luck I shan’t fail this year. I’ve also been dating a rather nice chap called Rob. He’s a teacher and to quote my mother “a proper grown up” which is frankly a breath of fresh air. It’s fantastic to speak to someone who’s idea of culture isn’t Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”, but rather theatre, someone who’s eyes don’t glaze over when I mention Virgil or Sartre. Not just that but he’s not camp! Now I love camp guys. One of my best friends is so camp that he not only has a row of tents but in fact owns a whole campsite filled with drag queens singing “I will Survive”. But to date? I prefer not to date shallow vapid things that use gay culture as a defensive shield to deal with the vast amount of shit that comes from living. I find it so much easier to just not get so involved with guys who are so involved in themselves (He says this as he’s writing a very personal blog- the irony is not lost on me). Watch as that sentence generates a vast amount of hate mail.

Anyway, Rob is rather lovely and while it’s early days and I am most definitely NOT looking for a new Mr Coombs, I am really enjoying spending time with him and getting to know him. This is probably partly to do with the fact that he takes me to nice bars and restaurants and I’m starting to feel like a “proper grown up” myself for the first time in a very very long while. Plus we rock the pub quiz machine! We might even win some money on it before long.

The theft of my laptop has also forced me to rediscover my love for BBC Radio 4, national anthem and all. This probably makes me a bit sad, especially since I’m writing this on a Friday night with Radio 4 playing in the background but the lure of its comedy, documentary and drama output is simply too strong to resist. My love for quality radio has influenced my opinion on the BBC’s shameless kowtowing to its critics in axing 6Music and Asian Network. By all accounts 6Music had a schedule of quality programming while BBC 3, that cesspit of awful content such as “Snog, Marry, Avoid” and “I believe in UFOS, with Danny Dyer” (programmes that would better suit ITV2, not a BBC channel), survives. Programming aimed at teenagers is being cut, leaving the audience to switch to Channel 4 when they outgrow CBBC with Aunty Beeb left hoping that they come back when they’re in their late teens and early twenties. This is frankly madness. As has been said on Popjustic the loss of 6Music will affect Radio One as alternative and new music is forced into Radio One’s schedule, forcing listeners elsewhere if they want uninterrupted pop. Personally BBC 3 is the real waste of money since it has seemingly abandoned the Rethian principles. It barely educates and panders to the lowest common denominator. To me it seems that the BBC simply wanted a slice of the lucrative reality TV cake. If I had my way I would close BBC 3 and create BBC Sport. That way events like the snooker or the football would not mess around with the BBC 1 and 2 schedule, something many people complain about. BBC 3 programming could easily be made available on BBC 2, those programmes that are worth saving. Why doesn’t the BBC board take a pay cut to save money? After all, the Director-General gets about six times as much money as the Prime Minister.

A fringe benefit to being an insomniac is that it gives you ample time for reflection. To say I wasn’t the best boyfriend to Mehmet is a little bit of an understatement but Lord knows he wasn’t the saint he portrays himself to be either. I guess that’s my point. We are all human. We can be fallen angels or rising apes depending on our needs and wants. I don’t believe in pure evil. Neither do I believe in pure good. Life isn’t so clean cut, so black and white. It’s a cliché to say it but life is messy, cluttered and complicated. Life is full of people coming in or going out. Like all good plays, life is about the entrances and exits of the players. I have done many bad things in my 20 years on this mortal coil. I have also acted completely selflessly, for charities and for my family. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I am finally ready to let go of my guilt. I’m not a bad person. Nor am I a good person. I’m just a person, like everyone else.

So far this blog is already going to be as the French would say TTBM, mainly because I haven’t been at a computer yet to update it and I have a lot on my mind. I was only intending this to be 1000 words but I’m guessing I’m well over that by now. Anyway I’m now sat outside Lime Café at the uni, having a cup of tea and watching the world go by. I’m waiting for my Old French partner to turn up so we can finally get this group project underway. People watching is possibly my favourite sport. I’m currently watching a peroxide blonde camp gay guy anxiously phone someone. Anyway I’d better get on with some work so I’ll talk to you later.

So I guess I ought to update you about what’s happened since then, seeing as that was all written about a month ago now. Rob needless to say didn’t last but c’est la vie. I’m fairly zen about it, seeing as I have bigger fish to fry and should be in France next year anyway. The house situation at home is still up in the air since Halifax didn’t turn up to their own repossession hearing so for the moment Mum’s still in the house. The possibility of her losing her job is very muchly on the horizon and I’m not sure how she’ll cope if she ends up homeless and jobless within the same year. I worry about her deeply. All I can offer is a shoulder to cry on. And that’s killing me. I should have a job soon, at Starbucks, winning over customers with my wit, charm and knowledge of coffee. Uni is uni. I’m kinda falling out of love with my course but I guess that’s a symptom of the greater malaise in my life. Which I’m beating I’m happy to say. Even with everything that’s been going on I’m actually very happy.

And with that I’m finishing up. I’ll write again soon, I promise.

Ad

xx

Bioshock 2: My First Impressions

I’m currently about 5 levels into Bioshock 2 which I feel is enough play time to be able to give my first impressions without detracting from the inevitable full review that I’m bound to write. So here we go, my initial thoughts on the sequel to what was in my opinion 2007′s Game of the Year.

Firstly, let’s look back on Bioshock. I can’t imagine how Ken Levine sold the idea of an FPS/RPG based on the philosophy of Ayn Rand but it worked. Rapture as both a setting and a character in its own right takes on the mantle of Galt’s Gulch (the Objectivist based town in Rand’s magnum opus Atlas Shrugged) and plays the “What if?” game of “What if someone actually took Objectivist philosophy and built a society on it?”. Instead of it being the paradise of Atlas Shrugged, Rapture quickly became a nightmare dystopia with genetic mutants walking the halls and the guy in charge, Andrew Ryan, having ditched his ideals to nationalise industries and cause a civil war. The story in the original game is grand and overarching, dealing as it does with philosophies involving the running of the economy and individual freedoms. This may make Bioshock sound a boring game and I’m doing it no justice but with very tight game mechanics and a compelling setting, Bioshock really is a game that you need to play.

On to Bioshock 2 then, arguably the most unnecessary sequel due out this year since the ending of the original game tied up all the loose ends so perfectly. Where the story in the original is huge and deals with themes that affect everyone, Bioshock 2′s is somewhat tighter in focus, dealing mostly with the protagonist (Subject Delta, a prototype of the Big Daddies seen in the original game) and his quest to find the Little Sister he was bonded with. Where the plot in Bioshock is macro, the story in Bioshock 2 is micro, dealing with the theme of family before moving on to touch on themes such as religion and collectivist philosophy. Personally, the story in Bioshock 2 is less compelling but better told. 2k Marin have really gotten to grips with storytelling methods in the gaming medium and here we have a brilliant example of the reasons why games should not ape cinema, as they have been trying to do for the last decade or so.

The gameplay mechanics have been almost completely overhauled and have improved upon the original. Gone is the hacking/pipe dream mini-game from the original that tended to break the pace of action since any splicers attacking you would conveniently wait while you hacked a turret. Now hacking is done by stopping a needle on either a blue or green band on a bar, without breaking out of the main game. The inclusion of remote hacking also makes things more fun, as the tense moments where you fire off a hack dart to a camera while half a dozen splicers wait cluelessly below while you duck round the corner to finish the hack make for some intense gameplay. Combat has been polished to a shine. Since you play as a Big Daddy, most of the splicers you face are no match, especially since you now duel wield plasmids and weapons. However the inclusion of enemies such as the Brute Splicer and the Big Sister provide fierce firefights that are very easy to lose. Big Daddies still pose a threat but since you only need to worry about them if they have a Little Sister they are negligible for much of the game.

My only gripe is with the presentation. While the inclusion of unique character models for unspliced characters is a step in the right direction, I can’t help but feel that the game engine could have done with a bit more polish. Most of the textures and enemy models are new, however they still use the same graphics engine for the most part that was used in Bioshock. A little more time should have been spent here since it was almost 3 years ago that the original game came out.

I have yet to play the multiplayer yet since it requires an Xbox Live Gold account and I haven’t upgraded yet. Expect a review of that in a couple of weeks or so.

So, to round up, Bioshock 2 is a worthy successor to the original. I recommend it to anyone looking for an immersive FPS title that isn’t all about WW2 or nuclear weapons.

Ad

xx

The Norm and Its Effects

I promised a post on the Norm and here it is, a long wonderful discussion on why we have it and why I hate it.

The Norm is that most important demographic that everyone is assumed to be by pretty much every company and advertiser out there with a few exceptions: White, Middle-Class, Around the ages of 29-55 Male and Heterosexual. If you aren’t any one of those things you are outside the Norm and do not adhere to it either by choice or by sheer chance. The development of the Norm is partly to do with linguistic development and partly to do with the balance of power in a society. For example, were I to live in a country in Africa the Norm wouldn’t be White. The linguistic side of it stems from the way English does not have a gender neutral pronoun to describe a person. Now you can say “They” in place of “He/She” but strictly speaking that is not grammatically correct since “They” is the 3rd person plural and not a singular pronoun (this is changing somewhat in modern usage).

Why is this important? Well the vast majority of media is aimed at the Norm. The most obvious example I can think of is in advertising, especially for products such as Lynx. While the target audience is somewhat younger than the true Norm, Lynx adverts do almost strictly adhere to a White, Middle-Class, Heterosexual Male demographic, to the point where most people ignore the exploitation of women in their adverts and simply think the ads represent a retro-kitch aspect. After all we’re far too modern to actually believe that women can be seduced by a rather gawky looking bloke wearing a deodorant, aren’t we?

Another medium where this is a problem is of course video games. Most gamers are White, Middle-Class Heterosexual Males and therefore most games are aimed at them, to the point where games companies such as Bioware (who in previous games have put gay romances into their products such as Dragon Age) actually use Lesbian sex scenes as a marketing technique to their demographic. Again we’re dealing with the exploitation of women and the complete shunning of gay men altogether. This disappoints me a lot since Dragon Age, a game that was brilliant for the way it dealt with same sex partnerships, seemed to be showing the right direction for mature companies to go. Instead Bioware reverted to type and used Lesbians to sell their game.

So why do I have a problem with the Norm? While it’s certainly true that the majority of the population is White, Heterosexual and Middle-Class, the idea that Men outnumber women is plainly wrong. The fact that 50% of the population is happy to just sit and let themselves be used like this really winds me up and the idea that companies are using women in the 21st Century to sell products really is wrong.

So there we go. Hope you all don’t hate me now.

Ad

xx

Singledom

It’s rather odd that 2 months is the longest I have been single in over 4 years. Between the ages of 16-20 I went from one boyfriend to another, before settling on one whom I would completely destroy emotionally. I do regret the choices I made in my relationship with Mehmet. I do. I was stupid. Now normally my method of getting over a breakup would be to throw myself at the next possible boyfriend and see where things lead. So why aren’t I doing that and why, for the first time in about 2 years am I genuinely happy about the situation in which I find myself?

The main reason is simply the easiness of singledom. Not having a boyfriend to deal with, I am now removed from any kind of compromise I would otherwise to have to make. I can go out when I want with whoever I want, I can watch whatever I like on TV and most importantly, I can now plan my year abroad without having to worry about the consequences of living in a foreign country for a year. I have always been someone who is very comfortable in their own company and I do spend the vast majority of my time alone. This is partly to do with my approach to friendships (I generally have a group of around 5 dedicated friends with all of my other relationships being fairly superficial) and the fact that I like being on my own with my thoughts.

The second most important reason why I’m happy with my new status as a single gay man is that it is bloody good fun. Ignoring my complete inability to pull in clubs (Thursday night’s accidental threesome being a HUGE exception) I enjoy flirting. It is one of my favourite pass times ever and now I don’t have to worry about the consequences. Not to mention that if I want to have sex with someone I can, but it’s not the be all and end all of my life (The French would say: “Ce n’est pas le Pérou”) and I can simply enjoy chatting and flirting with a plethora of guys.

Also, third and final reason, which is possibly the worst but it does make me happy: I can occasionally smoke again.

I’m really not sure what I should talk about now… I suppose a review of my weekend but you don’t want to hear about my alcohol fueled adventures really.

Ad

xx

Children and Crime

We’ve got a bit of a problem in this country. It’s quite an important one and quite often is ignored by the Press and politicians alike. The UK has got one of the youngest ages of criminal responsibility at just 10 years old. Let’s compare that to the other age related rights and responsibilities shall we:

• Age of Marriage: 16 (with parental consent), 18 without.
• Sexual consent: 16
• Voting: 18
• Driving: 17
• Leaving school: 16
• Leaving home: 16
• Buying tobacco or alcohol: 18
• Jury service: 18
• Joining the armed forces: 16

Notice something? You are legally considered a “full” adult when you are 18. At 18 you have all the rights and responsibilities of a citizen of the UK. None of those rights are granted at any age lower than 16. Now to me this seems odd when you compare that this country’s law system regards any one that has committed any crime at the age of 10 as an adult. 10 year olds don’t even pay taxes. This argument is of course ignoring the huge developmental argument that at the age of 10 most people do not fully understand right from wrong.

What happens to kids that are tried under our incredible cruel and archaic system? They are lost forever, swapping one institution for another without hope of a decent education or any chance of a normal life. Now you (I’m talking to the tabloid reading lunatics that have in the past called for the deaths of the killers of various different children, including Jamie Bulger) will probably tell me that I’m too soft and that these evil children should be strung up from the highest tree. Justice in this country is not supposed to be revenge. It is supposed to be about rehabilitation and fairness and when you end up in the middle of a media circus as these cases often do, it is nigh on impossible to get a fair trial. When someone is deemed to be rehabilitated and no longer a threat to the community they should be released, plain and simple. The vigilante mob mentality that some have in this country is frightening and frankly makes me disgusted to be British.

Why am I talking about this now? I just received a chain email calling for the deaths of the two killers of Jamie Bulger. Ghandi once said “an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind”. I prefer to stick with “Judge not lest ye be judged.”

Ad

xx

My Stance on the Tobacco and Alcohol Industries

I used to smoke fairly heavily back when I was younger. I gave up and aside from turning to tobacco when things get really tough, I am generally a non-smoker. Drinking on the other hand is a habit of mine and I have been known to enjoy a couple of drinks at the end of the day. Since I am and have been a customer of both these industries I feel that I ought to explain my stance on them.

During the Summer I worked for one of the UK’s largest tobacco companies, Gallaher, which although it is now owned by JTI still employs many people in the UK and manufactures many UK tobacco brands, the most famous being Benson and Hedges and Mayfair. I’m not going to try and justify the tobacco industry as a whole, I’m just going to give my thoughts based on my time working there. Gallaher and JTI as a company are very much aware of their nature as a company that sells addictive chemicals to the public and that their profit comes from people that are being damaged by smoking. This is a huge part of the company’s make-up. All of their paperwork states that they know their responsibilities to their customers and that smoking is not a good lifestyle choice. In order to help with this, JTI sinks billions into research and development. The idea that all tobacco is the same is a fallacy. Much like tea, different blends and plants create different flavours and even different levels of addiction and chemical effect for the customer. From what I have seen from inside the company JTI is trying to make its products less addictive and dangerous while still keeping profits for their shareholders.

The tobacco industry also employs a lot of people in this country. To simply wipe out the industry would take away a lot of working class jobs in factories and offices, leaving a large number of people on the dole queue. Not to mention the large amount of money that is donated not only by JTI itself but also its employees through their pay cheques, often to charities like Cancer Research. During my time in their HR department I noticed that around 3/4 of the workforce was donating to one or more charities regularly through their pay cheque.

Now I am assuming that the alcohol industry is similar, mainly due to the government regulation of both industries and their twin natures as lifestyle choices that aren’t particularly healthy.

The left wing side of me really would rather we had never discovered tobacco in the first place. However the liberal part of me believes that it is a human being’s right to do with their body whatever they want, be it tattooing, piercing, overeating, smoking or drinking. When these things become issues, which for some people they do, then should the government intervene to help those that need it. Punishing the rest of us who use these substances moderately will only cause problems economically for the companies involved and would not stop those who have a chemical addiction to drink or nicotine from getting their fix no matter what the cost. It is an important thing to think about as we have seen through history that prohibition does not work.

Ad

xx