100% agree and I doubt that this bloke will ever be able to rebuild a career in teaching, he has been punished by the law and he will continue to be punished by the public.
BSG, I am with you wholeheartedly and are there really any of us out there that are not guilty of some error of judgement. We are not talking about the severity nor the latent potential for greater misdemeanours. We are talking about a society that (should) live within the bounds of society's rules. If we do not abide by and accept the decisions of the judicial system and demand blood, total incarceration, are we any better than a 'latent' lynch mob ourselves? I am no bleeding heart liberal and support capital punishment for certain crimes, I also worked within the legal system for over 30 years. I have seen both the right and, in my opinion, the wrong within the system. As with any system, there will be flaws and we have the right to enable change via the ballot box.....however do not be under the illusion that those in political office are there to represent our views...they are there to exercise their own views and we choose those who we feel best reflect our own values. When was the last open referendum that you can remember?........Just a thought.
WINDYROG In my question to BSG, I decided to turn his earlier observations towards him - to make the situation more personal. He replied in obvious fashion - as I would expect you and all parents. Regardless of the lack / opportunity of referendum in any political decisions, the answer to my question would be the same from any normal parents. I am ( probably like all of you )not without sin - past, present or future - but when an issue is as emotive as the well being of innocent children, I am certain that any minor misdemeanour that each of us may make on a daily basis, could not compare with horrendeous and vile atrocities committed on our children. In these circumstances, I would defy anyone to be able to forgive these types of crimes. I try to be a committed Christian - but I am a normal human being - still stuck on ' human error ' and have not yet mastered the ability of ' divine forgiveness ' Let's hope the Taliban don't have an employment agency http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/22842512
1. I am not privy to the assessment that has been carried out on this man but would be happy to bet that it didn't say that he isn't a threat to children. No sane professional however good would put that in writing, imagine the consequences if they were wrong. So I would guess that he has been deemed as a "low risk" as opposed to "no risk". This is a professional judgement given the known facts at the time. This was not a law passed by a judicial system - it was a professional judgement & then a decision made by the National College of Teaching and Leadership panel .... a Professional Body review panel I don't happen to agree with their judgement & I believe myself to be well qualified to support my argument 2. I feel that you are mixing up consequences & punishment. He has indeed been punished but I do not believe that is the same as dealing with the consequences of his decisions. He was a teacher & yet chose to download child porn over a period of 2-3 years - not an accident or a minor mishap. To me the consequences of that decision is that he is not a suitable person to work in a child-related job. He made an extremely poor choice. 3. I am not trying to punish him for any crime. The fact that he has not physically assaulted a child has nothing to do with the issue as far as I am concerned. The child(ren) in the photographs were being portrayed for the sexual pleasure of adults .... this is child abuse. His name was placed on the sexually offenders register for 2 years - this does not happen to someone who has not committed a serious crime I understand that you believe I am being harsh but I would rather be harsh & wrong than liberal & wrong. If I'm harsh & wrong - one bloke who could have been a good teacher doesn't have the opportunity to because he carried out an illegal act. If I'm liberal & wrong - children may suffer
Today I received a letter from the local neighbourhood watch organiser. It had a few lines on the subject of my title of this post. It stated that if you are imprisoned you'll get a free accomodation with 3 cooked meals each day. You'll not have to worry about paying to heat your home. You'll be provided with recreational activities - and if you fall ill, you'll get immediate medical attention and nursing. however if you are a pensioner, the Labour Party ( in particular ) & current proposals, mean that you may have to decide wether to eat or heat. You won't have anything in terms of entertainment - you can't afford it. The home that you have worked hard for all your life ( paying tax along the way - to fund our prison(er)s ), will probably have to be sold to pay for your future care - and if you need medical help you'll have to join the long queue.
Hay fever season ! I used to have it really bad through my teenage years. Nose would run like Victoria Falls. I could have gouged out my eyes because they were so itchy - and all the time I would have blinding headaches. It didn't help that, when I was taking my exams my school had planned for extension work. Another level was being put onto the room/area where the exams were being conducted.It would have been less painful if you had actually hit me with a sledgehammer ( I know some of you would be first in the queue to volunteer your services .) It was torture. ( I actually walked out of one of the very minor subjects I had sat for - on account of my triple migraine .) These days I appear to have grown out of the problem - instead I am plagued by nesting seagulls and their young - with their incessant squawking. [video=youtube;qomGpsUyDrw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qomGpsUyDrwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qomGpsUyDrw[/video]
Glad to see you appreciating your good health & nature, all in one thread <wouldwinkonlyitsagainsttherules>
Now I could moan about Seagulls for a lifetime (Don't worry Brighton not you). I left school last year however the general cleanliness of the school's grounds was quite poor. The amount of litter that was left everywhere attracted swarms of the bloody things. Spring time the school field's were pretty much left alone because of the amount of them just hopping around or landing there. It was a mini Seagull airport! These so called birds also gained a fine art for flying down and pinching people's foos out of their hands. I never suffered from this but their dis-regard for the British legal system was absolutely infuriating. Stealing, deficating in public and the anti-social noise was horrific. I for one wouldn't be at all worried if they all disappeared from the face of the Earth. They be joined on that list by: Ricky Gervais, illegal immigrants and don't even get me started on Wasps
The Gills PegLeg: Ah! Ricky Gervais. I was beginning to think I was the only one that never ever found him funny. Generally to me, for someone that makes me laugh it has to be someone that can do so even before they open their mouth. That guy fails on both levels. I've tried to work out why so many people find him funny and the only conclusion I personally came to was he has the ability to create comedy but his own presence is only successful due to the scene, circumstances and people around him. I just had a quick look at wiki and under Genres it has listed cringe, insult and observational. The first two he certainly is as for the last category that is probably the main ingredient of his success. Basically he is only successful due to other people's ability to be funny but with Gervais standing as a main character.
And I thought I had a problem with the self service tills ! There are people out there that put me to shame - I am a mere pussy cat compared with them - despite what brb has written in my signature. ( I'd love to meet some of these people - to get some ideas ) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-22854447
Poshminx - you've read my posts about the D.I.Y. tills & the 'dried coconut' episode - these are all real and occurred in Tesco. Tesco are also guilty for some of my weight problem. I can't resist picking up a bar of chocolate whilst in the queue to pay for my petrol - using my 5p voucher for petrol that has been hiked up 3p during their promotion !
Ah pleased to see you noticed the increases in petrol. All the fuss and publicity about when it was reduced 2p by the supermarkets. Now it's dearer than before the price drop, don't hear them promoting that one. Happens every time.
Was weird that I come on here about Tesco as well, last Saturday I had problems on the self service till as it said 'Unexpected item in bagging area' one member of staff come across and tried to accuse me of putting something there which I had not scanned through and I said look everything has scanned and she counted out the items and checked again and then looked at her computer screen and said yeah you are right. No apologies either which really annoyed me and that is why I hate Tesco, I don't even usually go in there or have anything from their stores as I like Morrisons a lot more and that is where the weekly shop comes from. To think that I was going to apply for a part-time job there over the summer is madness now as I absolutely hate that store and any other store with the name TESCO on it.
My gripe about Tesco is that they sent me an e-mail advert telling me that "my mum would like a bouquet of their flowers for mother's day" several years ago. As my mum passed away many years ago now I thought how insensitive the wording was & how awful it would have been if her death had been recent. So I sent them a nice, polite e-mail suggesting that they alter the wording of the future adverts to save hurting those recently bereaved. In reply I got a snotty letter suggesting that if I didn't like their adverts I could "unsubscribe" ..... needless to say I did & don't shop there now.
Why does it seem that a lot (most) people guilty of killing another human being try to say that they 'were' sick ?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-22878350 This guy has a vivid imagination when he defines ' murder ' - and then demonstrates his tender side (not) when advocating therapy for his girlfriend. I'd like to think that the jury won't be fooled. Besides - if he really is sick - he needs to be locked away so as not to contaminate the rest of society. Some years ago a motorist deliiberately tried to drive at me (not a ramdon accident) and the event was witnessed by 2 police officers - missed me by a whisker as I jumped out of the way at the last moment. The guy got caught. The police were all ready to charge him with attempted murder - but had to drop the charge because his blood / alcohol level was a couple of points above the limit. He 'knew' what he was doing - but it seems that there is a loophole in the law that allows you to / or try to kill somebody and get away with it.
I forgot one - and it's a classic ! My original post ( No.69 ) missed one scenario about roundabout users that gets my blood pressure rising. The Mexican Standoff - it always only ever happens on roundabouts served by single track roads. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the term - but for the non-drivers, I will explain. It's where the car in front at the roundabout stops and just sits there ! - waiting for another driver to make the first move - as does the car & driver at each of the other junctions off the roundabout. You can easily get 2,3 or 4 cars on all sides of the roundabout doing NOTHING - and all the time you can't get around them because your road is too damned narrow.
Some things in life you can just not make up and found this hilarious... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-22904619 Regardless of who is responsible for this idea, it just goes to demonstrate Tesco's have no morals imo.
