Things that Irk

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Things that Irk
As I get older I find it easier not to get riled by things. Practice and a degree of self-awareness has led me to the point where I can let most things lie, and walk away from things that, in the past, would have lead to me anger, ill-chosen words and stress.

I’m at a stage in my life where I can shrug most things off. People that irritate me and do me wrong, more often than not I would prefer just to walk away rather than make a stress-building issue, because let’s face it, life is too short to waste on ass holes.

But there are still a few things that remain within me, still able to be triggered when the correct set of circumstances arise. They are wider ranging things but retain the power to infuriate and disgust all in an instant. I’m going to list a few of them as a means of therapy:

1- Ignorance: People who think they are complete and refuse to attempt to better themselves because they live in a disillusioned world that makes them feel more important, skilled and intelligent than they actually are. These people do my head in because they tend to spout bullshit and lightly cloaked insults to those around them, in the belief that their intelligence is so high only they will get the joke, and nobody will understand them from their higher stance.

In reality, the people around them are only too well aware of how and why they behave as they do. Those same people know more about these ignoramuses than they probably realise, and only put up with it because they have to.

Ignoramuses don’t so much anger as sadden me, but when they impact my life with their crap, I get pissed off. These people should be stripped naked and forced to stand on a platform inside Hampden Park so we can all throw fruit and cow pats at them. They should be forced to stand in shame.

2- Tax Dodgers: People who choose not to work because they think they are better than everyone else, and because the system allows them to, infuriate me.

Everyone who can work should work, and those who cannot should be protected by the State. For example, there are many disabled people in the UK that are unable to work, and as such are provided for through benefits and services provided by the tax payer. This is rightly so.

What knackers the system economically and morally, is when people who are able-bodied and available for work don’t, and choose to live off the State permanently. These people are the stereotypical image of tax dodgers in the UK, and in my opinion should be weaned off benefits and put to work instead of straining the system to the tune of billions every year.

Worse still are those who are able-bodied but bend the rules of the system to claim benefits that they do not need. They do this to subsidise a better standard of living, such as through an extra car, holiday or extra goods and services. All of these people should be beaten up with wooden planks and jailed for fraud – as should the politicians who refuse to plug the loopholes.

3- Criminals: Crimes against the old and vulnerable, children, and the innocent, should be punished more severely than they are. The UK and Scottish Legal systems are both as bad as each other in that child rapists and murderers get less jail time than someone who robs a bank while holding a gun.

Specifically, killers should get life; life, as in the rest of their lives should be spent inside a prison wall staring at the bricks. Rapists and severe sexual assaulters should be chemically castrated and jailed for a minimum of 30 years with hard labour. Minor sexual assaults: 20 years. Violent assaulters should spend a minimum of 20 years behind bars and made to do manual labour.

The rate of repeat offending for “lesser crimes” is at a ridiculously high figure in the UK, therefore, repeat offenders should be struck out after three offences and jailed for a minimum of 20 years.

A Typical Example
Do you think my line is too tough? Let me paint a typical picture for you of life here in Scotland, with a typical incident you might read about every Monday on the BBC News website.

I’m going to tell you about Jeff. Jeff is a 30 year old man, has no steady job, lives on benefits and resides in a Council house in one of the poorer estates in Edinburgh. He also has a history of violence, a record for house breaking, assault and robbery to fuel his heroin addiction, and as a result, is well known to the police and several Judges in the Sheriff Court. One night, he stabs a man several times with a knife in an argument outside a pub over nothing that important. His victim does not die, but is mentally and physically scarred for life after the attack.

Jeff is arrested and placed on remand because he is considered a danger to the public. He is aware, though, that any time he serves while on remand will count towards his eventual sentence if found guilty. At the High Court he is looking at around 10 years if found guilty through a trial of Attempted Murder, but the Crown tells him his charge will be dropped to a lower charge if he pleads guilty of Grievous Bodily Harm thus avoiding a costly jury trial.

He pleads guilty of this “lesser” crime and is sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, which minus the 3 months on remand, is then also halved through “good behaviour” while in prison. He ends up serving 22 months (less than 2 years) and within six months of his release has assaulted someone else in a road rage incident while driving an un-insured car on his way to collect his benefits. Meanwhile, his original victim, has only just completed therapy so he can sleep at night as well as intense physiotherapy sessions while the muscles in his back and legs are repaired to nothing near their original strength.

What part of that speaks of justice? What part of that is fair to society? Which part of that is value for the tax payer? Which part of that is fair to all those people whose lives were ruined because he is nothing more than one of those people that fit perfectly into all three categories I described above?

Onto less irking matters now.

Blipfoto
I’ve started a blipfoto account. I started it 3 days ago and it is intended to run in parallel with this blog, so many of the images you see on it relate to blog posts here. It’s a great idea: you can only post 1 image per day and it allows me to stretch my lazy and rarely used photographic muscles.

All images I take on my blipfoto page are photographed, edited and uploaded using my iPhone, and so far, it’s looking good. Yesterday I posted my favourite image so far: Alone, not Lonely. Click here for Freedom from the Mundane on Blipfoto.

Free Photo Shoot
Did you or anyone you know get engaged recently? Gail Galbraith Photography in Edinburgh is running a competition to win a free photo shoot. Everyone who enters win a prize, so click on the following link to find out all the details on how to win a complimentary engagement shoot.

Friday Vid
My Friday Vid is a cracker this week. Prepare to splutter your morning tea everywhere when you watch this. Thanks to @VicGalloway for sending this one out. Click here if you can’t see the video on the page: http://vimeo.com/17519491

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=17519491&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

The Chap – We’ll See To Your Breakdown from Lo+LOAF TV on Vimeo.

Have a great Friday!

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