I have an interest in Live Action Role Play and Table Top Role Play. I also like Goth and Heavy Metal music among many other styles. There is a connection here. Both have been treated badly by the press.

Kid shoots up other kids in school. Hey! Look! He listened to Maralyn Manson! Can't be anyone else's fault! Another kid commits suicide. He played Dungeons and Dragons! The game corrupted him! - Excuse me?

Dungeons and Dragons has been attacked because there are some narrow minded people who cannot imagine that anyone playing a game with imaginary demons and other pantheons of gods can do anything but be corrupted by them. Out of hand and because of this ALL roleplaying games must be evil. - Excuse me?

A young man I knew killed himself when he was 18. He had lost his job and (so) his girlfriend walked out on him. His folks said they could not afford to keep him unless he was earning so he had better get another job quick or he would be thrown out. This was at a time of high unemployment. The pressures were too much for him. He hanged himself in his room. There was a Black Sabbath album among his music collection. The press used this to imply that he committed suicide because of the influence of this album. Did they mention his classical music? Did they blame Tchaikovsky?

Sensationalism sells papers. Papers therefore make up sensational stories. It is unfortunate that those communities look to to be sensible and rational actually seem to believe these stories. The only alternative, i.e. should they not believe them, is that they are deliberately using these stories for their own ends or to improve the standing of their religion (or whatever).

A while ago (end of June 2001) a young girl staggered down the road near Catford Station, and then collapsed. A minister and two others with him walked around the girl leaving her on the ground. A man stopped his motorbike and ran over to her. His jacket had an Aerosmith Logo painted on the back. He was wearing a demon decorated teashirt. A young man dressed in Goth style clothing with a girl dressed in a similar manner also ran over and phoned for an ambulance using their mobile.

Maybe Jesus had better use a few more parables to wake his people up!

Sadden's Me

A few people I know and like have split up. Most have children that love them both. In almost every case the children are being used, more and more, as weapons between the split couples. Nine times out of ten, this treatment of the children is encouraged and furthered by solicitors, lawyers andwhoever, who just do not have the best interests of their clients at heart. They are prepared to wack in claim and counter claim - no matter how untrue, just to keep things going and to rake in more cash. If the parents sorted things out sensibly between themselves they would not be in the financial straights many now are. Second point, who is acting for the children? Who is paying more than lip service in considering what they want? I believe both parents are fooling themselves with the belief that they are acting in the interests of their children. Both are mostly wrong.

Where is the protection for the children that the state told us it would provide? All of these parents acted on advice from the social services and advice from their lawyers/soliciters etc. They all paid small fortunes to the latter.

DRUGS

While we are on the subject let us talk about drugs. In my family was an addict. All of the things you hear that addicts will do to get drugs are true.

I hate drugs with a passion. There is no excuse for screwing up your own life with them. You end up a burdon on the people who care for you and a burdon on the state.

Dealing in drugs is worse. How people can willingly and knowingly deliberately destroy others is beyond me. The government is currently easing up on mild drugs but toughening up on smoking and drinking! Where is the sense in this? I agree on the toughening up on drinking as it leads to extremely anti social behavior in all too many people and I can see the point about saving money for the NHS if less people smoke but what of the cost to the country caused by dope-heads? Have ministers not seen these self made morons with no feelings of responsibility, that have no sense of time and are willing to lose whole chunks of their lives.

I dislike drug users, I hate drugs and I, a person who also hates violence and killing, would personally not morn the death of a single dealer of illegal drugs.

As an add on to that, Britain had the chance to destroy, massively, some of the crops of cocain, America promised that it would do so. This was in Afganistan. Neither has. Neither tried. Once the oil was secured they did in fact seem to loose interest.

I want zero tolerence on drugs and drug related crimes. I want crack houses closed, their inhabitants moved on and if this places any innocents into an at risk situation they should be moved into care. Fostering regulations should be eased so that more children can benefit from love and care - at the moment the balance is too far on the restrictive side. I want assets removed, sold and the cash ploughed back into programs that will improve zero tolerance policing by helping to reduce the crimes. I want children to be able to play out, old people to be able to visit parks in safety and families not to have to worry about the bad behavior and anti-social habits their children will pick up just by going out of their home!

The only people who should be in prisons are those that are a danger to society. If money was stolen then take assets and continue to take them until the stolen amount is paid back, tenfold. Same with damage - let them pay ten times the amount for damage they cause in assets etc. Stop social security for criminals and have a person classed a criminal until the debt is repaid. If the criminal is wealthy extend the amounts so they will be punished as much.

Of the amounts recovered let the first half of it go to the victim and the other half to the forces and organisations dealing with the problems.

NEWSPAPERS

It really, really annoys me that a so called working man's paper carries articles aimed at a wealthier middle class and has within it series of adverts that will do nothing but make working class folks jealous, resentful and unhappy. "Make over your garden by spending £X00 on posh pots and twee edgings along with expensive shrubs and a new path." The average Working Class folk have a back yard kept clear of most growth by kids playing. "Improve your home by buying these very middle class and far too elegant for crass folks pastel cusions and vases." Cusions? Vases? Any idea how long a vase would last in the average working class home? These articles and advertisements only serve to tell people how poor they are and how much better off a load of talentless nobodies are. Then folk wonder about social unrest!

If at least a working class paper actually wrote for and about working classes instead of trying to sell them stuff they cannot afford then people would have a chance of getting a bit happier.

BTW: What about a paper for folk who have no job?