Scum-watch: Newlove makes more demands, while Putin gets attacked.
Today sees Helen Newlove given yet more room to list her shopping list of WHAT MUST CHANGE, this time on alcohol and access to it:
THE brave widow of murdered Garry Newlove last night demanded LIFE BANS for pub bosses who sell booze to children.
Widow Helen said: “Unless binge drinking goes unchecked, our town centres will turn into battlefields.
And what would this achieve exactly? There are already hefty fines in place for those who sell alcohol to anyone under 18, and more or less everywhere now demands ID if you look under 21. This only inflicts collective punishment on those who are old enough but who refuse to have to carry ID everywhere with them in case they decide to buy age restricted products. Common sense ought to be the order of the day, but Newlove seems impervious to that sort of logic. In any case, is it really the underaged that are turning "town centres ...into battlefields"? No, it's those old enough to drink being irresponsible. As ought to be pointed out, of the group that killed her husband, Swellings was old enough to buy alcohol, and presumably was the one who did.
Helen, 46, also wants:
LESS boozing on TV soaps because it makes heavy drinking seem “cool and normal” to teenagers.
Hear that TV producers and writers? Despite the fact that you're meant to be reflecting British life, and who knows, perhaps even generating debate about our culture and where we're heading, you've now got to censor your output because Mrs Newlove thinks it makes our rebellious youth decide it's cool. Now, far be it from me to suggest that they don't need television to think that drinking, getting drunk and all that entails in general is a bit of a hoot and that they'll do all of that regardless of what the ham actors are doing on EastEnders or Hollyoaks, but I think that Newlove really might be talking out of her arse.
COMMUNITY service for landlords if drink-fuelled violence starts outside their pub.
Right, so they'll be responsible if those they serve just happen to kick off outside. Sounds fair and proportionate.
STRICTER checks on ID at pubs, bars and clubs.
How many times does it have to be pointed out that the problems aren't happening because underage drinking is taking place in pubs etc? As Lee Griffin has pointed out, if anything the problem has been exacerbated because those who did used to drink in pubs have been shown the door due to the crackdowns. When once they would have behaved in the pub or been kicked out and barred, they now instead drink either at someone's house or out in the open, usually either with alcohol that has been bought by the parents themselves or by someone they've asked to get it for them. This is when the rowdiness and aggravation happens, not in pubs where if you behave like that you quickly get thrown out.
LAWS to stop companies from targeting kids with booze.
There are already such ones in place, and the Advertising Standards Authority's code explicitly bans anything that is seen as targeting children.
BANS on booze-filled sweet fizzy drinks such as alcopops.
This is yet another misnomer. The group that killed Newlove's husband had drank strong cider and lager, which is far cheaper than the so-called alcopops and therefore infinitely more attractive. Those who drink them tend to because they're not great fans of alcohol, not because they're intending to get drunk on them, as those Newlove wants to target do.
“Every time you turn on the TV you see a soap set in a bar or club. Coronation Street and EastEnders revolve around pubs. Hollyoaks constantly features boozing teenagers.
“The end result is that kids are totally acclimatised to alcohol. They can’t draw the line between TV and reality and so grow up thinking it’s cool and normal to get hammered.”
If you could distil nonsense down into a couple of paragraphs, I think you'd likely end up at the above.
Moving on to the Scum's leader:
ONCE again the murk of a suspected Moscow-approved assassination hangs over Britain.
Mr P had the misfortune to be the enemy of another Mr P.
The sinister Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.
The dead tycoon had opponents at home, where he was suspected of plotting a coup.
But he also crossed Putin — who has huge influence in Georgia — by making billions from Russian oil.
Mr Patarkatsishvili told police he feared he would be killed.
He hired 120 minders — but it was no good.
Perhaps he did die of natural causes.
Perhaps Mr Putin is a lovely chap with all the charm of a country vicar.
Putin might have huge influence in Georgia, but he and the government in that country don't see eye to eye.
Still, it doesn't hurt to slander Putin some, does it? I mean, especially seeing the results of the initial post-mortem:
An exiled Georgian billionaire who had spoken of assassination fears died of natural causes, according to initial post-mortem tests, Surrey police said.
A Surrey Police spokeswoman said there was "no indication that the sudden death of Badri Patarkatsishvili was from anything other than natural causes".
She said: "Extensive toxicology testing is yet to be carried out. This will take a number of weeks."
Oh.
Labels: binge drinking, bullshit, feral kids will kill us all, Helen Newlove, Patarkatsishvili, Scum-watch, Sun-watch
| Permalink
Helen Newlove does sound like she's just making it up now.
I'm not sure if the sun is using her or if she's using the sun, but it doesn't really matter if those quotes are exactly what she said.
I'm no psychologist but even I can tell that she's not really thinking about what she's saying, she's just dealing with her grief and anger by suggesting things that sound like they might reduce problems but actually won't do anything really.
And of course because she's a BRAVE grieving WIDOW who's BRAVE and also BRAVE, people will give her more time. I just hope that readers realise she's talking out of emotion, not out of intelligence.
Posted by
Chris |
Friday, February 15, 2008 12:26:00 PM
Exactly. I don't want to sound crass, or insensitive, but the thing she really ought to be doing is dealing with her grief, coming to terms with what has happened and then if she wants to continue with a campaign, thinking it through clearly when it isn't coloured entirely by her own anger and despair. The Sun at the moment, if not using her, is certainly encouraging her to do do exactly the opposite.
Posted by
septicisle. |
Friday, February 15, 2008 1:57:00 PM