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Tales Of Woe
Who, over forty at least, does not have a tale, on the one hand, of brutal misfortune at the hands of the judiciary, or, on the other hand, exasperation over the inability to use the, 'Criminal Justice System' to redress a wrong?
Have you never heard it said, "I could not afford to take the matter to court"?
What good is punishment?
What satisfaction is retribution or vengeance?
JUSTICE
must not only be done
but must also be seen to be done.
I, the poor, unfortunate, innocent victim
suffering as a consequence of your criminality
will not and cannot be appeased or sated until and unless
I see you writhe in pain and suffering that is greater than my own.
Is that it?
Fair?
Nice?
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What use is it to be told, "Yes, you are indeed owed the debt" only to be informed that this means you now have the right to ask politely for settlement, nothing more?
Fine words?
"To err is human, we all make mistakes."
"Forgive thy brother, seven times, a thousand times."
"Vengeance, punishment and retribution are for The Lord and The Lord alone."
Does this mean, give the keys to Fort Knox to Bonnie and Clyde?*
Legalise murder?
Establish the 'National Association of Shoplifters, Housebreakers and Street Fighters'?
*Some may say that is what we have done
What is the difference between an error and a crime?
What is the difference between an accepted custom and an imprisonable offence?
When is 'The Law' an arbitrary regulation, a sloppy indifference, or an astute grasp of 'rightness' and 'wrongness'?
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JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, EQUALITY?
The evidence and proof are indisputable.
Thanks to the expertise of the defence team, a technicality ensures that the accused walks free.
☹ ? ☺
"That's never happened"?
"Happens every day"?
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Am I really the only person ever to have asked the question, "What is the nature of the current situation?" "How should I act or respond?" ?
Who, really, understands the human condition and all the many entanglements into which we may find ourselves?
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☺ GOOD
and EVIL
☹
GOOD
is that which I desire and cherish coming towards me while that which I fear and loath recedes.
EVIL
is that which I loath and fear coming towards me while that which I cherish and desire recedes.
True? Nonsense? "Unbiased"?
✂
“Went out last night for a pint. It was brilliant. We got absolutely rat-arsed.” - Soldier? Undergraduate? Officer?
☯
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Or how about:
"That's where religion and 'The Church' step in."
Redemption and the restoration of original innocence, resolution, deep understanding of what makes us 'go crazy', what it is that, 'Drives Us Mad'? Tweak & adjust bad habits, aberrant behaviour, over-reaction? Stimulate new motivation, better goals and a more pleasing self-image?
☤
WHO IS TO BLAME?
The captain has the sailor lashed.
The sailor is to blame.
The officer has the soldier flogged.
The soldier is to blame.
The judge jails the doctor.
The doctor is to blame.
The World Heavy Weight Champion jumps upon his manager's head.
The manager is to blame?
☣
YoMJuMyVen
Your Mistake Justifies My Vengeance.
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Why is it we accord greater care, attention and professional skill to a dead corpse than to a man who faces the utter, irrevocable destruction of his life?
Frequently, such a man behaves as he does because he has been hurled into a broken world which, from an early age, treated him with authoritarian violence.
The Tawse "The Belt" (no teacher could graduate until proficiency had been shown)
A hefty strip of leather capable of breaking the bones in a child's hand.
- His tie is squint, the headmaster delivers six of the best.
- The crowd pushes him onto the grass, he gets the belt.
RIGHT vs. WRONG
"Me and my companions are going to cut you up into pieces."
"That's horrid. You are an evil, sadistic criminal."
"Hold on a moment, I have here in my trunk, let's see, look, a uniform, a powdered wig and a book."
"What difference does that make?"
"There. That's better. We are now the just. You are the criminal. You will be hung, drawn through the streets, made to eat your own entrails and hacked into quarters."
☣
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If your hyperactive child breaks your precious china and makes the other children cry, do you reach for the incinerator?
"AN EYE FOR AN EYE"
"A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH"
A Breakthrough In Judicial Fairness
It replaced, "You blinded my son, I slaughter your family."
Modern Times
A soldier is killed by a mortar bomb, another is maimed, several are injured or hurt.
How does the unit react, what would you (or I) do?
The soldiers wiped out the village nearest to where the mortar was fired.
How many innocent civilians paid with their lives?
Does anyone care?
Yes but that is the nature of war and there is little we can do to change it.
(To arrest the soldiers decades later is, what, exactly?)
How many of those everyday criminals hauled up to be sentenced by the courts would argue their situation was in some way comparable?
How many crimes are punishments?
How many punishments are crimes?
The answers are not obvious, I do not know what they are.
◥◤
◢◣
How easy it is to sip by the fire and talk fine words about the troubles faced by others.
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Sometimes a situation can make yer heid spin till it unscrews itself an’ hits the ground.
By Whose Consent?
The priest says, “it's the oldest profession.”
Why?
Because he is a client?
The matron says, “it's the oldest profession.”
Why?
The schoolteacher says, “it's the oldest profession.”
Does it matter?
Are there any differences here?
a) A twenty five year old man-bloke-chap-guy takes a seventeen year old Superior Being to a hotel room for a poke.
Afterwards he shuts himself away and is consoled by his two mistresses who live with him by turn and turn about.
[The above has been adjusted for 'political correctness' 'role reversal' and 'equality'. What actually happened was:]
b) The twenty five year old 'superior being' takes the seventeen year old 'lesser sex' to a hotel room for a poke.
During the following weeks she shuts herself away and cries.
The Superior Being is consoled by her two lovers who live with her by turn and turn about.
Click Click! Snap Snap! Judge, Rabbi, Mullah, Feminist - How do you read the situation?
Who do you condemn?
Who do you praise?
Who must be stoned?
Who is the victim, of who, what, and why?
If she were a he and the hes were shes, how then would you decree?
Which of the four is guilty of what kind of crime, to what extent, and, for how long? (at what point does guilt 'expire'?)
If you shrug and walk away, why then do comparable situations earn your wrath & ire?
At what stage and for what reason does 'consent' switch to 'crime'?
Or what, exactly?
(The Reality:) Usually it is the 17/18/19 year old "Superior Being" who takes the 25/30/40 year old "Lesser Sex" to a room for cash (snigger snigger).
"When she is annoyed, he is destroyed"
- is that it?
Finally, why should I be bothered?
⛖
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Right Wrong Right Wrong Right Wrong Right Wrong Right Wrong Right Wrong
(...and should the courts make a mistake?)
"OUR TASK?"
innocence, welcome, loyalty
Regardless of whatever I may have been told
By media, peers, the 'Out There' or the old
My task as a human is to mine for the gold
See glittering treasure in "The Fools" and the goaled
Strangers become friends, their deeds I should betray?
How might that yet look in the cold light of day?
A line in the sand washed away by the tide
To one I'm a traitor, the other says I lied.
true or tosh?
Let's face it, I never get annoyed with people.
Do you?
(pah!)
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Ah hav’nae got enough cupboards t’ keep a’ ma skeletons.
«^»
The Judge and The Reprobate
"You," says the judge, "are a well known thug, there are those would have you hanged
"So oft are you here the soundtrack of your life is punctuated by these doors clanged
"Work 'im to death, mutilate, execute? We merely degrade you in a 'slop-out' cell
"Your private demons will thrash the walls, your aspirations hurtle, in a rage, to Hell
"Nothing I say will a jot of difference make, your world is too deep in its mould
"Only you can awaken your innermost secret, your 'Samson', 'Superman' courageous and bold
"Your danger to others is rooted in your past, robbed of the tools you need to survive
"I order instruction, learn chess and a skill, as an adept salesman, out there, you may thrive."
is that a load of parsimonious patronising gush?
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With maths, chalk and a blackboard we invented The Bomb.
To fathom the human condition, what makes us tick,
ain't half as easy.
LX
Try this: ☀
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