Yes, he promised us rain today – a 90% chance with 14mm in the daytime and 10mm through the night. The current forecast however for this evening has changed slightly and we now have a 50% chance of rain and an estimated 3mm
And so what was the weather like today then? Why, it was glorious non-stop sunshine of course. So much so that the batteries are fully-charged again and I did a huge load of washing this morning. And while it was a-doing I started to look around the verandah for a paper that I’ve lost. That progressed into a full-scale tidy up and reorganisation in there that has lasted all day and still is nowhere near finished. Even so, there’s quite an improvement, even though the casual observer might not think so. And of course, I haven’t found the paper I was looking for that started all of this off. I need to find it as I have to go into Pionsat and I can’t go without this paper (well, I can but it makes the journey rather pointless).
And this evening’s weather? A brilliantly clear sky with thousands of stars.
And in other news, Rhys and I are well-known for our fundamental differences of opinion on American politics and the bearing of arms and the like, and we have long-since agreed to differ about this. But every now and again we find ourselves surprisingly arranged on the same side. And it’s with this in mind that I want to draw your attention to a legal case that has been hitting the news in the UK. A family comes home from their mosque and finds three men burgling their home. The family is captured and tied up while the burglary continues. As the burgalrs leave, the father of the family breaks free and grabs hold of his brother and the two of them chase the three villains. They catch up with one of them and hit him with a cricket bat to incapacitate him.
The burglar is tried and convicted and given a two-year supervision order. The two brothers, one of whom remember was tied up by the burglars and was forced to watch his family tied up, well they get prison sentences. And not just any ordinary prison sentences either but 30 and 39 months respectively.
Now that is not the part of the procedure that is obscene. The worst part of the whole affair is the judge’s comments. The burglars have committed a “serious and wicked offence” – and the sentence for that crime is probation. The judge goes on to say that “If persons were permitted to take the law into their own hands and inflict their own instant and violent punishment on an apprehended offender rather than letting justice take its course, then the rule of law and our system of criminal justice, which are the hallmarks of a civilised society, would collapse.“
So let’s talk about that. How many of the THREE offenders have been brought to justice? The answer is “jusr one”. And which one was it that was brought to justice? Why, the one that the victims hit with a cricket bat. If the victims had not hit him with a cricket bat it is likely that he would have made his getaway with his two colleagues and would never have been brought to justice at all.
And seeing as he was brought before justice, how come justice did not prevail upon him to disclose the names of his partners in crime? I suppose that this is justice in the UK taking its course. If I had been in charge of the trial it wouldn’t have been two years supervision it would have been five years inside. Three times five years is fifteen years and the criminal who had been captured would have to serve the lot if he wouldn’t disclose the names of his colleagues. Soon put a stop to the vow of Omerta, that would.
Of course, the irony of his comments seems to have sailed right over the head of the trial judge. Maybe someone should hit him with a cricket bat and knock some sense into him. But I feel that it would take more than that to knock some sense into the UK right now. I’m glad I don’t live there any more.
