View From The Window

Grey clouds with the possibility of rain, we got a break in the extremely hot weather yesterday but I still have a large fan in the bedroom as things are still close. The small local brewery put on its annual music festival 'Live Ale' this weekend and of course it decides to rain after several weeks of drought, it is the last day today and they might get lucky.

I, like most of the country am fairly subdued this week after the atrocity committed in Manchester by an Islamist terrorist, there, no beating about the bush with the official wishy washy, blame no one label of 'extremist' here. I do wish the government, police and media spokespeople(?) would set the likes of this nut apart from say, Buddhist, Methodist, Jehovah's Witness etc. extremists so we don't get confused about who is killing innocents. Only our leaders refuse time and time again to face up to the reality of the situation and spout such arrogant nonsense like 'no one religion is to blame'. Apart from a deluded few we all know who and what is to blame.

You know I have little or no respect for politicians, but if you doubt me, listen carefully to the speeches and soundbites from Manchester's new mayor Andy Burnham, and note what he doesn't say lest it annoy his vast numbers of Moslem voters. This is a man who traded security measures for votes.

I put a post on Facebook earlier to vent my anger, but then almost immediately deleted it, I must not join the vast banal monster that is social media, the passing on of cute cat videos, the 'pass it on if your auntie is great', save this, save that. No, it is a means of extending my hobby of toy soldiers, end of, OK I do tease my brother now and again but that's my limit, pass it on.

I did notice however that a woman married a man this week which I got the impression was some big deal.

What do you have to do in this country to get locked up or appear in court, posh student Lavinia Woodward, I thought Lavinia was on the edge of Russia, punched her date before stabbing him with a bread knife, but the judge, bless him, thought it would be unfair to derail her career as an aspiring heart surgeon to send her to jail. Perhaps she was merely revising when she stabbed him, missed the heart and got him in the leg. Lavinia not only did not appear in court, she was not even in the country being in Milan with her mum! Not even community service.

Even if you get sent to jail you don't serve the full sentence, so why give people such a sentence which sends the wrong message, instead of putting the offender down for twenty years, be truthful, give the mad axeman three years. Members of the Asian grooming gang from Rochdale are already back on their local streets after their disgusting crimes, all jailed in 2012 seven have been released early. What justice?

On the brighter side we have the Darlington couple seduced by easy cash who decided to sue their holiday hotel for illness after being contacted by the 'no win, no fee' parasites, three years after the holiday mind. The hotel bravely counter sued and, fearing the loss of all they own to pay off the hotel, the greedy morons are now trying to end their claim, but of course they are then liable to pay the parasites to get out of the deal, more like 'no win, we win'.

And this week's 'to hell in a hand basket' is the Luxembourg presidents 'first man' standing for the photo shoot with all the other first ladies at the G7, and then doing the rounds of shopping and photo opportunities with them. Oh, and will Tusk and Junker turn up at anything for a free meal.