Mario, Get Yer Guns

What are the odds I will go off subject in this post? Still, I will try.  After reading yet another article calling yet another videogame a "burglary sim", I had to put pen to blog.  Why? Because its lazy journalism, sloppy and winds me up. Hell, the same could be thrown at television but for some peculiar reason we don't do that.
I don't watch television but from the clips I've seen on the interwebz and things I hear on forums, nothings changed from when I did used to watch it. Scheming, plots, adultery, revenge, murder, and bloodshed. Its all there, played out by glamorous women and guys with chiselled physiques. Gotta look your best when you're knee deep in sin right?
And so it goes that videogames have followed that same path. Those age restrictions on the box aren't there to make the case look pretty, videogames have matured and its illegal for soft parents to give in ("for ten minutes peace") and buy wee Jimmy a shooter with a bloody big red 18 stamped on the box. Is that ten minutes peace really worth a hefty fine? Dont think it doesn't happen because it does (more often than you'd care to think).
So we have a burglary sim now do we? What about Grand Theft Auto? Armed robbery sim? Dishonored? A murder sim?
These are games fer Crissakes, but the way some journalists describe them make them sound like guides on how to raise hell for real. One of my current favourite videogames is Thief, a game where, yep you guessed it, you skulk around an 18th century London inspired city, pilfering gold watches and clubbing hapless city guards over the noggin. But I don't play the game to train as a cat burglar, anymore than a fan of 24 watches the show in hope of becoming a CIA agent (or whatever the heck Kiefer Sutherland is meant to be).
And what frustrates me more is that I read this on a gaming website not the Daily Mail  (where one expects such petty sniping). Honestly, videogames have become a massive business in these last few years and deal with mature subjects. Can't we be at least as responsible when writing about them?

A Tribute to Victims

With the shocking killing of Leeds teacher Ann Maguire, who was stabbed to death in her classroom and reports of another botched execution in America (step forward Oklahoma), this is a week which proves (as if needed) that murder is never far away. Naturally it rekindles the age old debate about what society should do with its murderers.
Regular readers of the Dai Jakes blog will know that in the past I have favoured capital punishment and in my heart I can see reason why I do, but alas my head is slowly turning toward the belief that a life sentence is more appropriate ('life' in bold because I mean a full life tariff as opposed to free in fifteen to twenty years). And while some suggest a memorial for Drummer Lee Rigby, I cannot imagine a more fitting tribute than making life in jail mandatory for all murderers. Nothing against stone memorials to honour victims, I just feel that tough and fair Justice is more useful and benefits society whole. A force to help crush the bloody hand of murder, making everyone safer.
Indeed the more I think about it, the better idea it sounds. In Britain we only have around 50 or 60 murderers serving life without parole, which is a very poor show. Murder is a most heinous, wicked crime, destroying not just victims but loved ones also and to have the majority of killers walk free after serving fifteen years, sticks in my throat a tad. More than a tad if I'm honest, it fairly makes my blood boil.
Capital punishment, whilst delivering justice to one particular thug, doesn't 'treat' the rest of them. And not everyone agrees with the death penalty. A mandatory life sentence for all however would (and while there are those who disagree with even full tariffs, their reasoning behind those beliefs are weak and anyway those types don't exist in particularly high numbers). Of course we could simply send the entire rotten bunch to the gallows but im afraid that in these 'enlightened' times of 21st century (and I am still searching for evidence of this enlightenment), that won't fly. Reality won't allow for mass executions, it takes a different kind of world for that to happen and however much people say they would hang all killers, I suspect the truth when it came to it would be different.
I think life without parole for all murderers is a wonderful idea, I absolutely believe in it 100% and think it a perfect tribute for murder victims and families. And like I say, would benefit society in general too. Marble memorials and flowery displays are all well and good but were I Jakes I, King of Great Britain (and I can dream hehe) I would create a more lasting tribute to victims of violent crime and set in law that if you commit murder in this country then the remainder of your 'mortal liberty' is forfeit. Down you shall go for life. Justice for the slain, and protection for the rest of us.

We deserve at least this, and victims certainly do.

Jakes on Royal Marine Guilty

It saddens me to have to break this news so close to Remembrance Sunday but a Royal Marine has been found guilty of murdering a wounded Afghan insurgent fighter. The soldier shot the wounded, unarmed Afghan in the chest telling the dying man: "There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil, you ****. It's nothing you wouldn't do to us." Before turning to comrades and telling them: "Obviously this doesn't go anywhere, fellas. I just broke the Geneva Convention."
Even more depressing is we are getting people commentating under online news supporting the Marine. Wise up people! This soldier is a disgrace to those who serve the Crown with honour. There is no honour or courage in killing a captured, wounded man in cold blood. This my dear readers is murder, pure and simple. I am no pacifist, and as horrid as it is, soldiers kill each other in times of war. Its the nature of warfare. But when you have soldiers murdering captured enemy combatants, its not right. It cannot ever be right. Its psychopathic and cowardly. And yes, there are Afghan Taliban soldiers doing the exact same thing to troops but I thought our Army was better than that. Evidently some are not. There is a Geneva Convention for a reason, and if we are going to ignore it, we might as well toss it out the window. This Marine knew he was doing wrong too because he instructed his comrades to keep quiet. He knew he had just committed murder. I support our Armed Forces but I cannot defend killing a wounded man. Only cowards and those with questionable morals ever would.
I shouldn't be so surprised when crimes like this are uncovered because operating in lands where bloodshed is plenty is bound to have negative effects on any normal man. Killing, under any circumstance, isn't natural. It is bound to 'breed' the odd psycho. Violence builds on violence. The rule of the gun is never ending. But I doubt Mankind will ever learn.

Facebook: Murder, Death, Kill

Facebook has backed down after the controversy surrounding a video showing masked man beheading woman in Mexico and canned the video. But that it was there in the beginning, while breast feeding images were banned, speaks volumes about the site, and if we are honest, society in general. And yes, I use it but it doesn't mean I approve of everything it gets up to. These are real people in these snuff movies, not actors. Its one thing watching a Hollywood slasher movie, quite another clicking on a link that shows real murder. Worrying that some think its perfectly okay to watch.
Facebook themselves seem to be fine with it though: "the public should be free to view beheading videos then condemn the content" Dear me, what is that cotton-mouthed pish supposed to mean?
"Hey chums, look at this video of some geezer being beheaded! Terrible isn't it? It should be banned...wait, I've got another one showing people being tortured, disgusting eh? I don't know why they show these things ... hang on, wait until you see this video
of a woman being set on fire, its well wicked!"
Where are we heading? Don't we realise that by clicking these awful links, we are in fact encouraging more sickos to make them? In the same way that watching child pornography makes the viewer as guilty of child abuse as those who did the actual abusing. Look I know we used to gather at public executions in the 1700s and make a spectacle out of it but are we not meant to advance? And I suspect if the film showed animal cruelty, the outrage would have come a lot sooner.
It all comes down to this: how would you feel if it was your son, daughter, wife, husband, friend that was murdered and the video posted on the net for all to see? Context! Videos of murders, rape, torture and cruelty that are clicked on on a social media site are not concerned with reporting the news. Atrocities have to be exposed but to show a human being's last moments on earth in a video loop denies the victim of dignity, desensitises us to violence and makes us more callous.
I'm sorry, but videos of beheadings are videos of murder, and there cannot be any justification for showing them. It's nothing to do with freedom of speech or terrorism, it's murder, and posting and watching such imagery makes you complicit in that crime.

Diana: Its All...Conspiracy

Scotland Yard to investigate whether Princess Diana was murdered?

Dai Jakes usually enjoys a good conspiracy theory, some are clever and very imaginative but the ones surrounding this accident are rubbish. Some are so weak they can produce some genuine Laugh Out Loud moments. First off, organising a car crash would NOT be an ideal way to get someone killed because very few people die in car wrecks. If it was, as suggested in some corners, a "hit" plotted by the military, they would have much more creative and sure fire methods at their disposal than causing a car crash. A vehicle wreck is loud, bold and attention grabbing. Hardly the ways of shadowy security forces.
We have already had three investigations into this tragedy, I cannot see the results of a fourth being any different; accident no foul play. Anyone with an ounce of common sense will have looked at the evidence before coming to the conclusion that there was never a shred of evidence to support the murder theory. This is why Al Fayed was laughed out of the inquest. The driver, Henri Paul, was DRUNK for crying out loud! And had been on the happy pills. He was driving at speed, at night, with paparazzi flash bulbs going off around the car. Its a miracle to me how he even got as far as the tunnel. I have never been so irresponsible to drive drunk, but I have tried cycling up my garden path after a few too many, and I didn't get 10 yards before I was in a hedge.
Add to all that the fact that none of the car's occupants was wearing a seatbelt, I cannot see how anyone would be tempted to believe it was anything other than a fatal crash. All these stories of mythical white cars disappearing from the scene, or claims that Diana was spotted standing up outside the mangled car, are just flights of fancy conjured up by fantasists. Maybe some cannot accept that a former Princess with the fairytale wedding could die so horrifically in a French tunnel. Others are obsessed with conspiracy and the Illuminati who secretly control the world's affairs (so secret and powerful are they, that weirdos on the internet have them sussed.)
Me? Well like I have said, I usually enjoy a good conspiracy theory but regard them much like the Star Wars saga or any other work of fiction. To actually believe them? That's a tad desperate don't you think? I was never a "fan" of Diana, and thought this "People's Princess business was way over the top, but she was only 36 when she perished in that fatal crash which is a criminally young age to die. Its hard to take, its a knock on our mortality. Perhaps some need to create shady scenarios as a way to push reality away? The reality being that a young mother of two, who lived most of her life in fabulous wealth and fame, had her life snuffed out in a Mercedes S280 due to a drunken chauffeur. And there is nothing more to it than that.

A Small Taste of Pot

Sweet leaf?

Ageing stoners can sing the praises of cannabis until the cows come home, even sheep and horses but look at the people it attracts (taken from an article in todays Mail on Sunday):

"I meet an Albanian hash baron, through a British gangster. He warns me in advance that Ivan is ‘a right nutter’ before adding: ‘They are the maddest, baddest people I’ve ever met. Step out of line and they murder you."

So, even if the miserable stuff is safe (which its most certainly not) it still has the lethal potential to create victims purely because of the shady nature of its business and the hoodlums it attracts. And if you make it legal, it will still attract these vicious types because to some it is all they know and they will seek to undercut legitimate sellers. Face it, this is world that contains some very dodgy characters indeed, regardless what harm you think cannabis does or does not do. A place where killing and skullduggery are all too common, and as ive said, this creates innocent victims as well as those who some might say deserve it.
All because a few wretchedly selfish pot smokers want to fry their minds.

*And yes I am a frequent drinker of alcohol but im not so naïve to think its harmless if abused.

Jailhouse Justice

No heroes they

This week a child killers body was found murdered in a cell at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire. And you know something? Dai Jakes won't lose a wink of sleep over it, I feel not an ounce of pity for those who torture and kill children. What is troubling however is the amount of people calling the two suspected murderers 'heroes', and even going so far as suggesting they should be released. And yes you read that right, released. Go to any online edition of a newspaper who is running this story and in the comments section underneath you will read plenty of support for this bit of 'jailhouse justice'. (The same thing is happening on various internet forums.)
Have ye all gone mad? HMP Long Lartin accomodates Category A prisoners, some of the most dangerous inmates in Britain, and folk want a couple to go free? Okay sure, let them out, why not? Afterall they probably only raped or killed people themselves eh? So fine release them for bad behaviour (murder remember?) and do away with justice for THEIR victims. Sound good? No, not to me either. You see the trouble with 'jailhouse justice' (besides the whole moral side of it) is it makes prisoners feel they are on the same level as law abiding citizens who foolishly believe that their 'good deed' wipes the slate clean. Newsflash: they are not, and it doesn't. Heroic? No, its just bad men offing bad men.

Remember Meredith Kercher

I was initially tempted to make this a rant for a different site, but having mulled over it with a rare coffee watching the sun rise lazily in the distance, I have decided to remain calm. This is a tragic story where a beautiful, young woman was murdered, and does not deserve to be ranted at and yelled around like those buffoons did last night when the verdict came through. (They had obviously decided to ignore the judge, who said this was not a football match).
Amanda Knox and Raffaele Soliecito were cleared of the murder of Meredith Kercher at around 10pm, monday evening in Italy. Both had spent four years in jail for the crime but are now free to go. A third man, Rudy Guede, is still in prison.
Now let me make this clear; the pair have been found innocent in a court of law and I have no complaint there. Justice would not be served had Knox and Soliecito spent twenty five years behind bars for something they hadn't done. My issue is with the authorites who totally bungled this case and the media who turned it into something similar to a Superbowl.
The televised circus I witnessed whilst sucking on a pint of cider were appalling, with people whooping like they were at a rodeo when the judge announced they were in the clear. I don't mind admitting that it left me feeling sad, awful that Meredith had been completely forgotten in the media storm. Im sorry but this was not the occasion for celebration and the victim became a victim twice over along with her family who are victims for life.


Meredith ~ never forgotten

Ms Kercher's family has said they feel "back to square one" and my heart genuinely goes out to them. (I feel I must write 'genuine' because ive seen very little genuine support for Meredith during all of this and I have altered my attitude accordingly).
And to add insult to injury, Amanda Knox is set to make a tidy fortune out of it with interviews, book deals and the movie that will no doubt be made (and that I for one will ignore). One US magazine had even paid for a private jet to whisk her off back to Seattle! (Unfortunately her passport has expired so currently she's on her way to London).
I am all in favour of compensating her and her ex boyfiend for what must have been a terrible ordeal, but all of these offers just proves to me how vulgar humnity has become. Meredith Kercher and Amanda Knox were close friends and I am certain that if this is true, the American is hurting over the loss of her friend.
So this is what I would do were I in Knox's shoes ~

1. Accept whatever compensation the Italian courts decide to give her.
2. Give half the book deal and interview money she recieves to Meredith Kercher's family and the other half to victims charities.
3. Avoid the television circuit and attempt to reclaim some form of normality. (Hard I know but doable if she wants it).
4. Never claim to be the victim. Meredith Kercher is the victim.

And most of all never forget Meredith.

Wheel Out The Tyburn Tree

One of the vile vermin (I cant bring myself to call him a 'man') who was involved with the death of Baby P will be released on Friday it has been reported, and to add insult to this tragedy the b@astard will be given a new identity and more than likey plastic surgery to keep him safe from a rightfully angry mob.
How do I feel about this? Well being as im firmly in the Pro Death Penalty camp (you can find me posting under the screen name The Broker on ProDeathPenalty .com) I am absolutely fuming.
As anger is a great emotion to sculpt thoughts I will say exactly what I said on Facebook when I heard this news; that precious baby's killers should all be hanged at the Tyburn gallows (it could support triple hangings). There is no rehabilitation for scum who leave over 50 injuries including a snapped spine on a child. There is no change or reform; only death could ever be punishment enough. The hanging, drawing & quartering type. FREE? This is the reflection of a sick society indeed.
A common saying with the anti mob are "dont kill in my name." Well dont free them in my name either. Im certainly not part of this illness which has gripped the UK and Europe. Giving murderers a second chance? Its madness and will end in tears.


The Tyburn Tree could hang multiple inmates

This is what happens when a country foolishly abolishes the death penalty. Other sentences like life in prison get lowered because in scrapping capital punishment, we are almost saying that murder isn't so bad afterall. The less sentences criminals recieve, the less harm the public believe has been done. And its wrong. Not only wrong but wholly disgusting.
These evil swines (and im being unfair to pigs there) should never be seeing the light of day again! Hell at the very least they ought to be on a secure ward in Broadmoor until the end of their wretched days. They brutally murdered a child and they deserve freedom??! You sick, sick kitties.
The general public will be fetching the scythes and burning torches over this and good for them. This will do grave harm to society because when authorities are prepared to let sadistic child killers go unpunished (and with those type of sentences they did go unpunished), then respect for our judicial system flies out the court window.
This poor baby was let down by his 'parents' (and it galls me to call them that) and now Baby Peter has been let down by justice. Throughout his cruelly short life, everything was stacked against him and there was no hope. Even the law of the land mocks him, as it does with every victim of crime. No smarmy words from politicians and do-gooders could ever convince the public otherwise.
Great Britain? Criminal Britain more like. A land where causing over 50 injuries to a young child and eventually causing his death will earn you a three year prison term.
And to all those against capital punishment; I would rather have the death of one innocent executed on my conscience, than the deaths of many children.