Jan 24 2009
So Many News Stories, So Little Space!
I’ve been ridiculously busy the last couple of days so apologies for missing two posts in the last three days. It’s highly unlike me not to write on here but our economic situation is a little precarious so I’m having to take on any and all work that comes my way and look for more. Keeping a roof over our heads is the most important thing at the moment and, being a freelance writer, I have the luxury of looking my own schedule so I’m working about 18 hours a day at the moment. Unfortuantely, all of the above means that I’ve missed some really interesting news items in the past few days so I’m going to write a little about several of them now!
Mother Allowed 3 Year Old To Smoke
Thie news story really disturbed me. A mother has been charged and found guilty of child cruelty because her 3 year old child lit a cigarette butt and started to smoke it! Yes, the child was 3 and lit the cigarette himself before begging to smoke it. Kelly Marie Pocock’s excuse was that she didn’t notice her child do that but I don’t see how the court didn’t charge her for perjury as well! A family friend was so disgusted by it that she filmed the incident at Pocock’s Merthyr Vale home in Wales on her mobile phone. This was of course used as evidence and backed up by expert testimony that the child was smoking the cigarette far too easily for it to be the first time. The child actually had a habit! God only knows what its done to his tiny little lungs but for a 3 year old to be able to do that even once is absolutely disgusting and Pocock, age 24, deserved far more than the suspended sentence she got!
Jonathan Ross Returns
I was so so so happy last night to see Jonathan Ross back on TV! I’ve missed his Friday night show and apparently I wasn’t the only one. 5.1m viewers watched Friday Night With Jonathan Ross last night and no doubt more will watch the replay later. Of course, Ross being back on TV has dragged his critics from under their Mary Whitehouse stones again but for goodness sake people let it lie! Ross and Russell Brand were wrong to call Andrew Sachs and leave those answerphone messages and have apologised but enough is enough. After all, Sachs has benefitted off the back of it as well. He’s back on TV thanks to his agent capitalising on the publicity. For someone that was really hurt by the whole incident, he was awfully quick to sign several lucrative contracts!
Taleban Nursed Next To UK Soldiers
British soliders that are serving in Afghanistan complained to the BBC this week because they were visiting injured friends in the Camp Bastion hospital only to find that they were being nursed next to the very people that they were fighting… members of the Taleban! I couldn’t believe it when I read this. Although the UK troops have to treat every individual that is injured under the Geneva Convention, it just adds insult to injury to find the very people that are trying to kill you in the bed next to you! I’m not saying that these people do or do not deserve treatment because none of us have any knowledge as to why they are fighting for the Taleban. Some are brainwashed, some are forced to fight and some are sold into the ranks of the terrorist group. However, they should not be treated in the same hospital let alone the same room. I think that it’s an absolute disgrace to our brave troops, who very often do not get th respect they deserve in any form anyway. They deserve much better than this!
Oscar Nominations Announced
I only have a couple of things to say on this… I can’t wait to see the battle between Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Oscars this year. Secondly, I love Kate Winslet and think that she is a fantastic actress, and throroughly deserving of Oscar this year, but please please please don’t make everyone cringe as much as at the Golden Globes. Be happy, be joyful but don’t forget Angelina Jolie and don’t sound as if your triumph is giving you an orgasm! Cynical I know but I really hate displays like that!
Karen Matthews Jailed For Kidnapping
Karen Matthews has been jailed for 8 years after being found guilty of kidnapping her own daughter, Shannon Matthews. You might expect the family to support Karen Matthews but they’ve actually come out in the media and said that they believe the sentence is not harsh enough. They wanted her to be sentenced to more years in jail and I agree with them. The police search and investigation to find Shannon Matthews cost over £100 million, which is money that I and every other tax payer in the land will have to contribute, and for what? For a selfish mother that had drugged her own daughter in order to get her hands on a £50,000 reward. I can’t believe that any mother would put her own daughter through such a nightmare! Well, to a certain extent she deserves what she got but I don’t think it went far enough. If Karen Matthews is capable of doing all of this to her own daughter then what else is she capable of?
Barak Obama Restores Women’s Rights
Barack Obama has taken strides for women everywhere and retored the woman’s right to choose within days of being in the White House. George W Bush invoked a global gag rule when he was in office as the President of the United States that halted the flow of funding to any institution that offered advice to women about or the facilities to perform abortions. This left many health facilities with a much tighter budget throughout the world so they were unable to offer the best health care to women. I understand that many people are against abortion but I am all for a woman’s right to choose. As a woman, I would absolutely not enjoy being forced into having my rapist’s baby. I would abhor being told what to do if my baby would have no quality of life as a result of genetic abnormalities, and I mean those far worse than Downes Syndrome. I would resent being old what to do with my body by men that do not know me nor care what I am going through because of what is “morally right”. Giving women the right to choose is morally right and I challenge anyone that says they know what they would do if pregnant with a rapist’s baby or as a result of incest. There is absolutely no way you couldknow until you are in that situation. As a result, I applaud Obama and the return of freedom, human rights and common sense!
