Random Rants

[Harrison]

Sorry to hear about this Steve. I can imagine you were quite scared at the time, I know I would be if a group of youths, or even kids, attacked me. I doesn't matter how old, big or strong you are, if a large enough group of kids attack you there is little you can do to fully defend yourself.

I also hope that can catch them, although I very much doubt the Police would be able to do that much if they did catch them. Most are let off with cautions, or bailed to appear at the magistrates and then never turn up so break their bail agreement and nothing much is done about it.

Personally I thing the eye for an eye philosophy should be used for such people. They should be chased and pushed to the ground and then kicked and punched a few time. Although I would love to see stocks reintroduced, and possibly bring back public stonings for the really worthless wastes of space!

[Stephen Coates]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. The one who handed you your glasses was probably the follower with a conscience and the others were just knobs.

Could be, although it was a girl who told him to get my glasses.

Eh ... they just started beating up on you for no reason whatsoever?

Seems like it. The girls were shouting 'excuse me' to me at first though, so i don't know if they wanted something. And one of the guys didn't seem to happy about me running away from him.

[v85rawdeal]

The 'handing back your glasses after attacking you' has happened to me too. A long time ago. I was walking along a path when I got attacked. One of the guys knocked my glasses off and when I bent to pick them up he kicked me square in the face. Then the others bundled in.

I get the feeling that once they had had their fun, they try to sort of get you to realise it was a just a 'bit of fun' and that there are 'no hard feelings'. And they think that if they show a bit of consideration that you may feel better toward them.

Afterwards they walked off, with apologetic looks on their faces and hands raised, as though saying 'hey, it wasn't meant to hurt, we were just playing.'

So was I, right up until I signed my statement to the police!

The scary part is that when that happened, I wasn't anywhere as near afraid as I would be nowadays.

Without saying too much, at least you didn't become another 'statistic'.

[Stephen Coates]

Without saying too much, at least you didn't become another 'statistic'.

What do you mean by statistic? I doubt the police will be able to do anything as I didn't get chance to ask them for their names and addresses. At least they will know that something happened in the park and they may pay it a visit some time to prevent it from happening to anyone else.

Afterwards they walked off, with apologetic looks on their faces and hands raised, as though saying 'hey, it wasn't meant to hurt, we were just playing.'

They must either think that they would be invincible if the same were to happen to them, or there must be something seriously wrong with them to think it wasn't ment to hurt.

[Harrison]

By statistic I think v85 is referring to the many recent stabbing murders that keep happening in the UK. Something that I think is caused by the media sensationalising it too much in the news.

[Stephen Coates]

You may have heard on the news about EMA being delayed due to computer problems. Well, my notice of entitlement arrived in reasonable time, but the bank account details are wrong. I wrote to the and after 2 weeks recieved no reply, so I telephoned them. The 10th time I called I finally got put on hold. Waited 15 minutes, and then I was told to send a letter. I explained I had done this so they said to wait longer as it may have taken extra time to get to the right department.

On that day I wrote to them again. Today a new Notice of Entitlement arrived with the correct details. No apology though.

Will the government ever get anything right?

[Buleste]

Will the government ever get anything right?

Thats one of those questions that has puzzled philosophers since the earliest days of Athenian democracy. The common concensus is no.

[Harrison]

Well, they won't get anything right whilst they all contracting the work to US companies!

As for EMA. I don't personally agree with it. Why should kids get paid to stay on in further education? I never did! I had to work both days of the weekend to earn money to continue through further education! No hand outs other than a free bus pass. It's just a way to keep 16 year olds in education for longer to keep the unemployment figures low and so they don't have to pay them more in job seekers allowance.

[Stephen Coates]

EMA has been extremely useful for me. How else would I have been able to afford a Mediator?

It has also helped me alot with things like paying bus fare and buying sandwiches and coffees etc. I have also used it to help pay for stuff which has been useful (and educational) to me so I don't spend it all on clothes and getting drunk like (according to some websites) some people do.

I do think it could be improved though. For example, £30 is very useful to me because my parents don't give me any money, and they can't really afford to. It is already going to be difficult to pay the gas and electricity bills this winter. However it isn't really fair to those who arn't entitled to it but also don't get any money off their parents (parents are under no obligation to provide money, even if they are rich).

I think if you want to help people to stay in education, it would probably be better to give everyone £15/week rather than have the amount depend on household income.

My teachers did actually recomend that we do not get any work while we are at college. Having mondays and tuesdays off has been useful for getting work done and going to the library. But the course could have taken up most of the week if they wanted it to and I expect some courses do take longer. I think the point of education is that you go to college to gain the skills that you need to get a job, and not to try and get a job to fund your time in college.

[Harrison]

Umm... there is this thing called a JOB! I used to work both days at the weekend to earn money when I was in college! Why can't that still be the case? Rather than hand outs from the government that is taken from the tax we pay from the earnings we make!