State Oppression

Today I read a cracking article by Rod Liddle about the barrister, Mark Saunders, who was murdered in London by the Met Police. But the investigation has found that 79 armed officers, and a helicopter, turning up to deal with a drunken depressive, albeit with a gun, is fine and not an over reaction. To then shoot him dead is not unlawful.

I'm instinctively against euthanasia because, as the anti war campaigners don't want war waged in their name, I don't want the state approving of putting people down in my name. Neither do I approve of suicide as a practising Roman Catholic, but suicide, or helping somebody to take their life, should be a private thing, don't ask or expect my approval.

But I now see a way around it. If you want to end it all pop down to London, get drunk, wave a gun about and hey presto, the Met will blow your brains out and it won't be anybody's fault. Well, the state won't blame you or anybody else, you may have to face up to some tough interrogation at the Pearly Gates though.

Then I went shopping and we went out down the back garden and out into the alley to the rear of our property. For ten years we, and our neighbours, have parked our wheelie bins in the alley against our garden walls. Our neighbours have made nice little platforms to rest our wheelie bins on. It really saves clogging up our garden and the alley is a dead end. It is also unadopted, in other words nobody owns the land.

But now, today, we went out the back and found that the council has slapped stickers on all our bins warning us to store them in our gardens or face a £100 fine. Try it you bureaucratic deviants, just you try it. Not as dramatic as poor old Mr Saunders admittedly, but state oppression works on numerous levels. The smaller measures can be the ones that drive you over the edge.

Then Mrs B has forced me to have diet coke with my Bacardi tonight. She reckons the calories I save will offset the calories in my bottle of wine. I refused point blank to go caffeine free too, that would be too much.

So let's drink before the state stops us doing it, for our own good.