What is the world coming too?
by Anton Piatek
I often pick up the Metro on the way to work (A free London paper for those who don’t know it) and there was a small article about a teenager who was fined for using the word ‘fuck’ in a private conversation on the street. It seems that you can be slapped with an £80 fine for almost anything these days, but I would like to know if anyone has fined radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, who recently said the same word on air live. Should he be fined £80 or £80 x ‘number of people listening’?
Does the whole idea of fining someone for swearing in public seem slightly wrong to anyone? Talk about freedom of speech (or the lack thereof)
On a similar note, the UK government has already spent £32 Million GBP on ID cards, according to the Metro, even though they have yet to decide how/when they will actually come in. The bills have not finished going through parliament and they have still managed to spend £32 Million… Hands up those who voted for Labour? (In fact, just slap yourselves. It is a shame we cannot kick Blair out for this misuse of power!)
The BBC News had a bit on a drug course for barin tumors, which cost £11,000 for a course (lasting 6 months). The problem is that the NHS is debating not making the drug available unless you go private. How on earth is it that a company can charge £11,000 for a drug? That is an absolutely insane price… Reminds me of something ages ago: IIRC Taiwan was manufacturing a vaccine to some drug and ignoring the patents on it because the company wanted too much for it. Good for them I say…
I was pleased to hear that an American sentenced to death has had his execution postponed as doctors refused to administer lethal injection. First it was postponed because they needed an anaethetist and none wanted to do it, so they are just saying a doctor has to administer one single injection, but none are willing to do it. How on earth can you ask a doctor to kill somone who does not want to die? They all take an oath when they graduate to never harm a patient (I listened to them swearing it during my graduation!). There is something wrong with the US states that still have the death penalty, and I will never understand why they have not abolished it. They seem to think that an electric chair or lethal injection/gas is far more civilised than beheading with and axe or guillotine or even being hung – It is not!