OUR round-up of the best, most pertinent and amusing comments of the week that have caught our eye.
In response to David Fraser: It’s no longer criminal to commit a crime,
Neptus 9 wrote:
Like it or not, society benefits from the knowledge that criminals are actually punished. The present system is intended to crush public morale and reduce citizens to helplessness by rewarding and pampering criminals while leaving the victims with no satisfaction; they must live on with their pain and possibly risk further loss.
This is intended to curb populations increasingly dissatisfied with government while encouraging crime in order to justify a totalitarian clampdown.
Coopercap wrote:
The reference to Intermediate Treatment schemes recalls an episode when I was involved with sail training. The bad apple in a school class was rewarded with a week afloat, which he doubtless enjoyed and hopefully learned from, but there was a strong negative effect on the rest of the class who learned that the right way isn’t the only way.
In response to Alp Mehmet: A pointless immigration system,
CheshireRed wrote:
Far too much common sense. Expect to be cancelled and smeared as a racist immediately.
UKCitizen wrote:
‘Such a system will encourage undercutting of wages and very likely lead to the displacement of UK workers.’ Well, that’s entirely the point, isn’t it? The UK political classes of any stripe no longer care about the locals. They are expensive and costly to train and educate. Easier to siphon off the ready trained (apparently) and cheaper populations of other countries because we are all basically the same and interchangeable.
In response to Will Jones: Thomas Sowell’s wise words on racism,
Andrew Devine wrote:
Recently I’ve seen white leftists on social media sharing such nonsense as ‘colour blindness is a form of racism’. How I would love to see these deluded eejits in a debate with Thomas Sowell.
Avoided Cranium wrote:
‘Of all ignorance, the ignorance of the educated is the most dangerous. Not only are educated people likely to have more influence, they are the last people to suspect that they don’t know what they are talking about when they go outside their narrow fields’ – T Sowell.
Pretty much applies to every politician I can think of . . .
In response to Laura Buckley: Feminists, leave Disney alone,
Cincinnatus wrote:
An equally sad development has been many wonderful Disney cartoon films (Jungle Book, Dumbo, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King etc) being re-made using live actors and actresses complete with politically correct messages delivered with all the subtlety of a flying mallet.
In response to Henry Getley: A hero’s dog is hounded out of the RAF’s history,
Reuben Wade wrote:
The RAF said it ‘did not want to give prominence to an offensive term that went against its ethos’.
Ethos of the RAF:
Hurty bullet – approved
Hurty cannon shell – approved
Hurty shrapnel – approved
Hurty high explosive – approved
Hurty thermo-nuclear explosion plus intense radiation – approved
Hurty word – not approved.
johnnythefish wrote:
A spokesman said: ‘As part of an ongoing review of its historical assets, the RAF have replaced the gravestone of Guy Gibson’s dog at RAF Scampton. The new gravestone tells the story of Guy Gibson’s dog, but its name has been removed.’
Blimey, has The Long March finally caught up with the RAF?
And what a heartstring-tugging story it must be, with its touching references to ‘the dog’.
In response to Derek Poots: There’s no plaice like home: Why we should be eating British fish,
itdoesntaddup wrote:
I am pleased to report that I have been enjoying plaice distributed by our local farm shop who have been amazing in their ability to maintain supplies when supermarkets failed. Daily deliveries from the coast, so it’s fresh, reminding me of the plaice my grandmother used to fry and poach. The fishmonger used to buy straight from the boats on the beach.
cambridgeelephant wrote:
We have a local mobile fishmonger and he’s very good. In particular he gets – when he can – monkfish from Cornwall (we’re in Essex!) and most excellent it is too. So I’m doing my bit.
abbie wrote:
We used to have pilchards by the million land in Cornwall and a whole industry around it. Now, nothing at all I think.
I live close to the sea and to fishing ports and villages but even we do not have a fishmonger or land fish to the quay that can be bought by local people.
Nessimmersion wrote:
We also urgently need to enforce employment rights on the fishing boats. The majority of boats working out of our white fish ports in the NE are crewed by Filipino or SE Asian crew. They are the only ones that will put up with the conditions and low wages.
So along with buying fish we need to change the conditions of working in fishing so it is seen as a viable career for the young.
Protestations to the contrary that it is viable are not in evidence when you look at the nationality of the crews.
In response to Chris McGovern: As they beg a bailout, will universities stop taking the Mickey?
PeterInDudley wrote:
Did anyone see this piece a few days ago on the BBC website, Apparently, a 21-year-old boy, Andrew, with 5 facial piercings and earrings can’t find a suitable job even with a degree in Promotional Design! The BBC can’t see that this is a useless degree awarded to a boy with no useful or transferable skills. He says, ‘Once I got my degree I thought it would be smooth sailing, but it isn’t at the moment.’ Of course it isn’t, you daft boy, whatever possessed you to go for a degree like that in the first place? Gill Bainbridge, the chief executive of the Merseyside Youth Organisation, states, ‘If Andrew is finding it tough with those qualifications, imagine what it’s like if you have low-level literacy and come from a difficult background?’ What, you mean like someone who can install a tap or fix a leaking sink?
In response to A former British Army Officer: Memo to the PM: Investing in defence is more important than ever,
Calling it an ‘Integrated Review’ doesn’t bode well for a start. Just more management-speak and flawed assumptions. It’s been perfectly clear for some decades now that the major state threat is from China, not Russia. The bear has to be allowed to throw its weight around its enclosure, but the dragon has a much deadlier and all-encompassing strategy.
Our strategic response should be centred on treating China as an international pariah, having as little to do with China as possible including reducing all trade to the absolute minimum and stopping investment altogether, and ensuring we can contribute meaningfully to any military effort to stop Chinese aggression beyond their borders.
Which of course means improving our defence capability, not running it down, more defence spending, not less.
But will we ever get it right, given our weak and vacuous politicians, the misjudgements and hauteur of the experts, the personal ambitions of the chiefs of staff? No.
The CCP has our measure and will win this world struggle unless we start to better understand the realities and act on them.
JPM wrote:
As another former Army officer, I feel that the author has rather downplayed the damage that has already been done to the UK’s defences. Arresting the decline is sadly no longer enough – it is now time to invest in defence assets with longer and more complex purchasing procedures, largely naval and air force assets, and to establish a strategic plan that leads to more rather than less defence.
Anything less will undoubtedly end up costing more in the long term.
In response to Kevin Donnelly: The Left’s long march through literature,
Owen_Morgan wrote:
Since Britain had the biggest empire which has ever existed, it stands to reason that empire looms large in British history – and yeah, you played a big part in that, Scotland and Ireland, so skip the victim stuff. Dismissing that imperial past would be like pretending it never happened. The BAME brigade are essentially ordering us to forget our history and to accept their version of it, like that crazy woman who demands that Nelson’s Column be demolished.
That is history reduced to victimhood. Unless you can claim to be a victim, you are not allowed to have history. In what universe does that make any sense?
