Snow and Pavements in the UK

 General, Media, Politics  1 Response »
Jan 102010
 

I dare say everyone in the UK is familiar with this problem – pavements that after a big snow fall end up coated in a thin (or thick) sheet of white ice. It varies in slipperiness from “quite” to “you’re going down”, and is very tiring to walk on because of the strain of making sure you have a good grip before taking the next step.

Apparently in the dim and distant past – before the winter of 1962/1963 (which was a biggie if anyone is wondering), it was common for everyone to clear the pavement in front of their house. Now there’s still a few who do it today, or at least there are a few who eventually get around to it after a few days – suggestion: if you’re going to clear your pavement, do it early before it ends up as ice, it will be a lot easier!

But the vast majority of pavements do not get any kind of treatment until the council gets around to them. We could be all pathetic and whinge about how the council is not doing its job properly and do nothing else. Or we could do something sensible – like clear our pavements ourselves.

But what about all those dire warnings that clearing your pavement could make you liable for being sued when someone takes a tumble ? It is rumoured that this is why people stopped clearing their pavements after 1962/1963, after someone did sue. Well it’s a load of rancid rhinoceros dung :-

  • BBC News (the journalist says “possibly”; the solicitor says “It would be quite difficult to prove and quite difficult to proceed with a claim.”

There’s plenty of other articles out there saying that you might be sued for clearing the pavement outside your home; but you can be sued for popping out of the house and accidentally knocking over someone in your rush. The fault is not with the law (or with clearing pavements), but with morons who sue at the drop of a hat and at the sniff of a lucrative payout.

We could do with a law saying that those responsible for falls on icy pavements are a) the person who fell (whatever happened to personal responsibility anyway?) and b) the weather (or if you want a person to blame, start believing in one of those god people).

In the absence of such a law it is worth remembering that :-

  1. You are exceptionally unlikely to be sued.
  2. You can always counter-sue the moron for being an anti-social moron (well you can try).
  3. You could always clear half of the pavement so people have a choice of whether to use an untreated surface or a treated surface.
  4. You could always have a lottery for your street so you get to clear the pavement in front of a random house, and destroy the results afterwards. When the householder is sued they can legitimately claim “it wasn’t me wot done it”, and if you destroy the results of the lottery, and carefully forget who did what, the “culprit” won’t be found. Incidentally this also solves the problem of those who can’t or won’t help – those who volunteer get two or three houses to do, and the whole street gets cleared.

Going back a bit, the responsibility for falling rests with the person who slips and falls. It may be harsh, but so is life. It is perfectly possible to arrange for adequate footwear (and straight after this blog is posted, I’ll be buying online something equivalent to crampons). Blaming someone else for your tumble is the sort of behaviour that should bring howls of derision and a few rotten vegetables.

Similarly blaming “the council” for not sorting out the pavements is a little unfair – whilst the council may grit pavements when it is convenient for them to do so, their main responsibility is to ensure that food can get to the shops. In unusually harsh weather (which we have had just now), the council simply isn’t going to be able to get around to the “nice to haves”.

Part of the problem is the possibility of legal liability which the media does it’s unfortunate best to promote – not intentionally perhaps. But by mentioning it whenever the subject of clearing pavements comes up. Usually in a context that on the surface allows for the possibility that liability is ridiculous, but with an undercurrent that re-enforced the myth that clearing pavements could lead to legal trouble.

Is it too much to ask that the media leave this subject alone as much as possible ?

And lastly, lets ignore the possibility of being sued and just clear the pavements.

Chinese Government Kill The English Madman

 Politics  No Responses »
Dec 292009
 

(With apologies to the relatives of Akmal Shaikh – I’m using somewhat impolite terms for mental illness)

The Chinese government has just executed an Englishman for drug smuggling despite the fact that he was plainly more than a little unhinged.  Even ignoring the fact that executions are a barbaric way of dealing with criminals, not taking into account someone’s mental health is positively medieval.

Well it would be except that medieval societies may well have been a trifle more understanding of those with mental health issues than the Chinese authorities have been.

The Chinese authorities are claiming that there are no reports indicating that Akmal has mental health issues, but it doesn’t take a report to know that he’s a bit of a fruitcase. And if there has not been a mental health assessment it is fully the responsibility of the Chinese authorities that there hasn’t been one!

Apparently the Chinese authorities are annoyed that people are criticising them for executing Akmal. They claim we have no right to criticise them! Well it’s not about whether we have the right to criticise them but about whether we find the behaviour of the Chinese authorities repugnant.

Gender Differences In Photography

 Photography, Politics  No Responses »
Dec 062009
 

I have just read this article on whether men and women take different photograph. Without going into too much detail, the overall impression is of confusion with some people saying yes and others no.

This is going to be very short. Whilst there may be gender-based differences in the way that we make photographs, these are likely to be overwhelmed by the simple differences between us that are down to us all being individuals. Most of us are far too keen to jump on the obvious differences (gender) and assume that these explain everything.

Or to put it another way, why did Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson make images that were so different when they are both men ? That’s right, because they were individuals and so was Gerda Taro. That she was a woman adds to her individuality, but being a woman didn’t make her any more of an individual or any less of an individual than Robert Capa was.

The End Of The Death Penalty In The US?

 Politics  No Responses »
Nov 142009
 

It has been announced this week that one of the alleged perpetrators (although he has freely confessed) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried in New York for orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The prosecution is rumoured to be asking for the death penalty.

If he is found guilty (and there seems little doubt he will eventually be found so), will he actually be put to death?

Whilst those in favour of the death penalty will argue in favour, there is a very good pragmatic reason why he should not be put to death. If he is executed by the US authorities, he will be regarded as a martyr by the Islamic extremists which will encourage others. Indeed he probably wants to be martyred by being executed; does it make sense to “punish” a mass murderer by giving him what he wants ?

Life imprisonment without parole is a far nastier punishment.

Hopefully someone in the US justice system will take the pragmatic approach and not give him what he wants as punishment and does not sentence him to execution.

But if you do not execute this mass murderer, how can you justify executing others whose crime is less extreme?

With any luck (yes I am opposed to the death penalty), the long term effect of taking the pragmatic approach will be that the death penalty will come to an end in the US.

Mr Brown’s Letter

 Media, Politics  No Responses »
Nov 062009
 

If I were close to someone who had been killed in action in Afghanistan, which would I rather receive ? A handwritten letter in poor handwriting and numerous misspellings ? Or a carefully worded letter, computer printed with a signature at the bottom.

Obviously I would rather receive neither – I would rather than someone close to me were still alive. But given the choice between the two letters, I would rather receive the handwritten one with misspellings and poor handwriting. A properly crafted letter that is computer printed is far less personal, and the wording is likely to be very bland. It would also feel like it was a form letter sent to everyone.

As for the poor handwriting and misspellings, a sensible person would not draw attention to that. There are often reasons why someone has poor spelling – for instance dyslexia. And someone with poor eyesight who probably relatively rarely writes by hand is likely to have poor handwriting.

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