The English Riots

I was both shocked and disappointed at the same time when I witnessed on the TV the recent riots that took hold in England’s major towns and city’s. Like many I was waiting for the police to “mop up” and take some decisive action to swiftly get the streets back under control, but yet again human rights took precedence apparently putting the rights of the young hooligans before the rights of the terrified individuals who were caught up in the horror themselves. Shurly to qualify for human rights you need to be human, I question this in these individuals.

Maybe it’s time for more right-wing approaches to take the fore!

Let’s get serious and start treating people as they treat others!

Your thoughts?

Haven’t had a rant for a while… That was good… Signing off for now…

Helmets

Recently I saw on the news that doctors and other health professionals were calling to make it mandatory to have to wear a helmet on a quad bike, my own opinion on this is each to their own. It’s commonly known that I ride a motorcycle and I begrudgingly have to don a lid each time I go out for a ride to keep “The Man” happy, although this is THE ONLY legal requirement as far as protective clothing goes; if stopped by the police I’ll have to go through that condescending line of questioning… “Where are your protective gloves, leathers, boots etc…” to which I can confidently reply it’s not a legal requirement and I’ve made my choice as a law-abiding, intelligent adult!

When on holiday in Turkey some years ago my wife and I hired a Harley and we rode off into the mountains, NO LIDS, NO LEATHERS, NO BOOTS… How dare we! PMSL It was great and a lifetime memory was forged. We broke all the rules yet had a great time and no damage was done. Some people use the cost to the NHS as an excuse for these controlling laws, well I have two points right back-at-ya on that one!

1. The majority of bikers at some time have donated to air ambulance services and continue to do so, in a perverse way you could call it insurance.
2. Sports injuries predominantly football, just because it’s our national sport no-one, including these so concerned doctors bat an eye lid.

The mandatory wearing of helmets can affect statistics although it has to be said that this is mostly just politically motivated by people some of which don’t even ride motorcycles. These days busy-bodies just want to dump their paranoia on everyone else!

Quad bikes next?

In summary: Let’s start respecting the choices and wishes of grown adults who are capable of assessing their own risks and making their own informed choices.

Fairstead Online – A Community Website

If you live in or near Fairstead, King’s Lynn, Norfolk check out http://www.fairstead.org. The site has a real Facebook feel and can be linked with both Twitter and Facebook.

“People in Fairstead like to talk. Well, this is our place to do just that! Get the local gossip, find out what’s going on, ask and answer questions, or get advice on what matters to you. Most of all, feel free to get talking!”

Virgin London Marathon 2010

Well I made it!!! the Virgin London Marathon 2010 took place in London, I was among approaching 40’000 other runners waiting to take up the challenge. It was a day of mixed emotions and was a real roller-coaster ride.

The day before I has to ride down to London on my motorcycle and register at the Expo to get my running number and other bits and pieces, I then had to battle the Saturday London traffic North to my hotel (filtering all the way!), it was then time for a dip in the pool (BLISS!).

The next morning came around VERY quickly, 04:45am call came in and I was up for more porridge! The coach picked us up at 06:15 and we were off to the meeting point. Once at the start line time ran slowly and eventually it was time, we all started heading towards the start line (this bit was really scary and yet exciting).

Before I knew it I was running the London Marathon (for real!) and my epic journey had started. Along the way I met many inspirational and kind people who helped me along. I want to pay a massive thanks to a guy called John Gregg who stuck with me right to the end (respect to ya big fella!) I think you could say we were sharing the pain! By the time myself and John got to Tower Bridge (roughly half way) we were starting to encounter cleanup crews and this was a little disheartening.

Disaster strikes! It suddenly felt like all my muscles in my legs seized up, “is this the wall?” I was thinking, I had no choice but to press on, which meant reluctantly walking to make sure I would make it to the finish line. Big John broke into the occasional jog but thankfully he wasn’t much quicker than my brisk walking/limping pace.

Time was moving VERY SLOWLY! It was just a case of KEEP GOING! Failure was not an option. Strangely my biggest fear was the thought of being stopped by the medical crews; I had been told by my doctor about a week before the race that I had slight hypertension (high blood pressure in English) and that I should not push it, I have to say this was a little worrying but let’s face it, for me, this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime deal and I had to succeed! My fears were suddenly compounded when I took a quick de-tour into one of the porta-loos and found to my horror blood-soaked painkillers and other such apparel people were using just to get through, it was a reality check to say the least!

Getting near the finish line, was it moving further away from me? …The last 2 miles could have been multiplied by one-hundred, they went on-and-on, round every corner there was another seemingly never-ending London street. Suddenly I saw the finish line with its iconic timing clock and I knew I was going to make it. At this point I was still limping but out of nowhere a rush of determination laced with pride took over my entire body and I lituarly sprinted the last few yards to the finish line.

The pain was replaced with euphoria as I crossed the line where a volenteer placed the Virgin 2010 London Marathon Medal around my neck and finally it was all over, I had become a marathon runner.

Final thought… NEVER AGAIN!

Bingo… the new Nicotine?

Is it just me… or does it seem to you the government has apparently replaced lost revenue from taxes paid by smokers for taxes from gambling. You can see the sneaky plot gradually unfolding as bingo advertising in almost every medium from TV to the side of buses bombards us.

The basic idea is this; SMOKING RELATED DISEASES COST THE NHS MONEY, GAMBLING ADDICTION COSTS VERY LITTLE.

There is more profit from gambling than smoking… it’s as simple as that.

Maybe this is just me being super-skeptical as usual or maybe it might just be true… What do you think?

Drinking Police

I’ve recently heard that police will be under-cover in pubs and bars over the Christmas period on the look-out for drunks with the aid of a guide book (how much did that cost?). The whole point of this is to apparently prevent drunk people getting served with alcohol at the bar, whilst imposing a fine of bar staff who knowingly serve drunks.

The worrying thing is that the guide book apparently has some frankly ridiculous pointers to watch for such as people who can’t make eye contact and a number of other signs.

Is not this whole venture a little cloak and daggers, this country is really starting to get beyond a joke when it comes to civil liberties!