The Parent-Infant-Project & the solution to a broken society?

The newspapers and radio shows I listen to have been plagued recently by the announcement of a project most notably endorsed and championed by Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire Andrea Leadsom: the Parent-Infant-Project is a well-meaning charity aimed at mending our 'broken society'.

At face value the Parent-Infant-Project sounds like a superb scheme to enhance the relationship between baby and parents, with an emphasis on tackling issues of post-natal depression, trauma of difficult birth and later problems of juvenile delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, crime and a repetition of this vicious cycle which leaves the taxpayer with a huge bill to foot, and by huge I mean upward of £70,000 per 'troubled' child up to the age of 28, approximately 10 times the amount spent on a child who experiences a 'positive' and 'stable' family relationship.

However, amongst the more than 200 families a year the Oxford Parent-Infant-Project helps, one cannot help but wonder if that includes families from the lowest end of the economic scale. If this project is launched nation-wide, would the parents of Baby P have participated? The recent case of Aaron Booth who died after ingesting cannabis plant food, would his mother have gone to this charity for help? With over 10,000 children taken into care between April 2011 and March 2012, it is these children’s parents that needed the charity’s help, I can’t help but think these parents are neither interested nor informed about the charity’s existence. 

Scouring the internet for information about the type of people who attend these sessions which include massage-therapy and 'positive playtime', I can only find repeated charity goals of helping mums and dads suffering depression or trauma. But where are the parents who (forgive the expression) 'pop children out for more benefits'? Where are the parents responsible for neglect that leads to the monumental figures of children taken into care?

Finally I would target young parents who are more likely to experience trauma, methods of including the Project’s work into schools should be considered, as this country is churning out too many mums under the age of 18 who have dropped out of education and, I am certain, dropped out of interest with government policy.

To be or not to be ... greedy?

A conundrum smacked me across the face as I browsed random tech websites and I found many references to the iPad 3. Of course Apple have released NOTHING and won't until they are more than ready to do so BUT... here is my problem:

I am saving to buy an iPad 2 next Easter, but what if by then Apple announces the release of the much-more-awesome iPad 3 sometime around September?

Do I get an iPad 2 early? Or an iPad 3 later?

These are the issues we face for 2012, let's enjoy the new year!

Sack Jeremy Clarkson? How low can Unison go?

From the BBC:
'Jeremy Clarkson should be sacked by the BBC over his "appalling" comments about killing striking public sector workers, trade union Unison has said.
The union said it was considering reporting the Top Gear presenter to the police over comments on The One Show.
Referring to striking workers, Mr Clarkson said: "I'd have them all shot. I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families."'

He didn't ACTUALLY mean they should be LITERALLY taken out and SHOT! That would be ridiculous! However, more ridiculous is Unison's belief that he is inciting hatred, fanaticism, and that his words echo those of Gaddafi!

How long are we going to tolerate such language from the unions? And while I am on the topic:

I am a self-employed private tutor, I make £100 a week and help my private sector working fiancee with bills, she cannot afford a pension (by the way!). I am 24 years old and have nothing to put away for when I retire. I cannot claim benefits because I haven't contributed enough national insurance (i.e. haven't had a proper job paying taxes) and cannot get a job for lack of experience! The word pension NEVER enters my daily conversations.

To see these public sector workers complain they don't get enough money after retirement, when so many private sector workers cannot even contemplate a pension, is disgusting. And I feel so repulsed by their attitude that I too feel they should be taken out and shot!

Of course Clarkson and I don't mean we are prepared to see them shot; what we are saying is they should shut up and keep working. And as if to make their position worse, Heathrow was working more efficiently without them!

Dear Unison, if you want Clarkson fired, why not put me in prison while you're at it, and probably the millions who agree with him!

So much for freedom of speech.

Review: The Body Farm

BBC One is teasing us with another new series this autumn before it eventually gives us what we want (what will happen to Dr Who? and when can we see Benedict Cumberbatch again?).

The Body Farm is a semi-resurrected 'Waking the Dead' which was officially pronounced dead last year (thankfully) but somehow in the multitude of BBC scripts Dr Eve Lockhart survived (played by Tara Fitzgerald). The episode began with a philosophical justification for the way Lockhart farms putrefying bodies full of maggots and worm, not simply content with the usual rant about justice, the audience is given the privilege of a monologue: “I have two promises that I vow to keep. My promise to the murderer is this: I will find you… To the victim I promise this: I will unlock the mechanism of your murder.” I must admit I giggled, but I can afford to risk wasting an hour, so let's see what happens next...

Introducing the characters was painfully cliché, we have the love interest/good looking cool dude, of course we need a weird genius with a mental problem (I hope he becomes the Hulk), and finally the way-over-the-top-sentimental feminist who's sole purpose is to feel for the victim, ignore the science and care about the human. Oh and there is plenty of multiculturalism! So much so I felt the BBC was begging the public not to criticize it's ethnic quota.

The show followed the typical crime plot, I thought there was too much feeling for a crime drama, I would have liked a bit more CSI New York, straight to the point without the wishy washy nonesense, maybe get a car chase? There was a moment when Lockhart asks for DNA swabs of a kid's parents to prove he was a victim, the dad steps forward and says (demands) that he will give one (what a hero!); then his wife nudges him and says no! (he retorts, why the hell not! he's my son!) She reminds him he's not the biological dad (he's still my son!).

Shit, bring on Jeremy Kyle. And that is how I felt watching Body Farm.

Privatization of the Police Force

 

With all the brouhaha going on about our police force (sorry, I mean police service, or public protection service?), I thought this video would be especially poignant.

London Riots: Illogical senseless destruction from a marginalised minority

London has erupted in flames as rioters stormed the streets and emptied shops, destroying the communities that support them. The incredulous violent actions of what are now described as 'youths' are a clear message that there is a marginalised group of people who have been left to slip out of our society.

Some criminals have stated on the news that it's all 'a bit of fun', saying it is not only justified but necessary:

The effect of this should be a complete re-think of how the UK deals with people on the fringe of society; The people who live solely on government benefits, the high levels of teenage pregnancy, the uneven education throughout the country, the binge drinking culture.

Moreover, we must find a way of telling these people (especially those in the video above) that they are wrong, they must take responsibility, they must understand what it is to work. And also that not all business owners, especially in small businesses, are rich. The difference is they have worked very hard to make a decent living and are probably struggling through the economic conditions. They don't need and uneducated thug telling them they deserve to be set on fire.

This is Britain's underclass; how can they be this angry, this undisciplined, so uncaring?

 Couldn't help sharing this: 'Nobody Fear, Cameron is Here'

The Last Free People On The Planet