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Vandalism gets you noticed, it ads to your reputation for defiance and fearless attitudes toward society and the law. it can give you an identity in a world that lacks opportunity whilst attacking the wealth of those that you envy the most.

Vandalism and anti-social behaviour is a symptom of our modern world, we foster and develop enclaves of undisciplined, uneducated angry young men who simply want to destroy anything and everything. We then lock them up for very brief periods of time. That experience simply adding to the problem. 

Whats the answer? Ownership, the individual must understand the consequences of his or her actions on others. In some cases they should make direct reparation, however it is essential they are  held to account by the victim and judicial process before being accepted back in to society. Restorative justice is better than simply Branding them as criminals. It is also cheaper.

that said, the natural and automatic response to vandalism from most people ( me included) would be to slap the crap out of the cheeky little  Gits. 

Karl Marx argued that Religion is the opium of the people" Translated from the German original, "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" it is often quoted to read "religion... is the opiate of the masses." Written in 1843 and published in 1844.

"Religion acts merely as an opiate" and "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions.

"It is the opium of the people".

Whilst I accept to being confused about religion, I am thankfully drug free....

A bit deep I know, but it has been a tough week..

My wife recently took a technical call/complaint that was quickly passed to me! The customer asserted, quite aggressively that he had bought a new set of inks and for his printer and it had lost all power and was not responding to anything, it was dead, an expensive lump of scrap he said.

i tried to diagnose the fault by asking if he had replaced of of the ink that we had supplied? He replied proudly "no" they are still in the envelope. Thinking he simply wanted a refund for unused cartridges he started screaming that I should collect them at our expense, his convenience and what was I going to do about his fudging printer? Given he has never bought from us before allied to the fact that our ink was never used I tried "the customer is always right" technique, this endeavour quickly gave way to simple advice along the lines that if he ever spoke to me in that way again we would have a major issue and I would be willing to meet him in person to discuss. The call ended with the words.... Now ........off. 

Unhappy customer. Hopefully he will never return.

This may stir things up....

It is a common mistake to assume that victims and offenders are completely distinct from one another. Our adversarial criminal justice system sets the offenders advocate (the defence) against the victim’s (or the states) representative in the form of a prosecutor. This model of criminal justice then creates a tension between the interests of the victim and the rights of the offender, many discussions and policy making decisions are then based on the premise that the interests of a victim and those of the offender are always diametrically and automatically opposed.

One of the major developments in criminal justice over the last thirty years is the increasing recognition of the rights and needs of the victims of crime. In recent years it would appear that restorative justice is emerging as an increasingly important (but expensive) element in mainstream criminological practice when discussing the rights, needs and the role of the victim within the judicial system.

In broad and simple terms, restorative justice signifies those measures that are designed to give victims of crime an opportunity to tell the offender about the impact of the offending on them and their families. It is also used to encourage offenders to accept responsibility for, and to repair the harm they have caused. Its general aims are to reduce re-offending, to restore the relationship between the victim and the offender that was disturbed by the offence, and to improve the victim’s experiences within the criminal justice process.

More importantly it is an attempt to involve, include and listen to the victim’s account of events through the use of direct and indirect mediation. The victim is therefore empowered and included in the judicial process through the use of dialogue with the offender. Both parties are encouraged to explore the offence; questions can be posed in order to facilitate a mutual understanding of the impact the crime has had. The offender is given the opportunity to explore the aftermath of his or her actions by being introduced to the victim.

That said, I would still flog the man responsible for the desecration of a war memorial, sometimes the public simply want revenge and retribution and I am human too....

Indoor kiacking, fishing and scuba diving, what a great idea...

Originally Posted by Barney

"next door to this house..... ”

Do you think your wall plugs may have been too big? Was the new boiler that heavy it pulled the wall down? Looks a bit draughty now, he will need more radiators if you ask me....

Well it looks like tweets get a faster response than calling customer service! After I added a couple of observations on Twitter, they called me. I can't confirm the outcome just yet, but it looks like I got my point accross and remedial action is being taken. 

Full feedback and outcome will be added very soon! 

Originally Posted by Barney

“Yup agree.. beats the numerous telephone calls..”

Given up on the calls, was told by one member of staff from Ladco that there was nothing I could do, they will simply keep taking their money even if I don't have a working terminal. It's in the contract he said... I have done talking, just going to go tweet and blog crazy.... Will just spread the word about the high standards of customer service being provided..... Not.

Simple message to XLN, Ladco, spire and elavon... Where is my terminal? Will you refund my rental costs and charges for the last 4 weeks? Will you compensate me for the loss of business? Didn't think so.... 

our card processing terminal developed a fault approximately 4 weeks ago. We were contracted to A company called Ladco. When we reported the fault, Ladco argued we needed to speak to XLN who provided the terminal, XLN argued we should speak to Elavon who are the parent company to Ladco. 

I started the vent my frustrations and was then told SPIRE who make the terminal have had some issues and were sending new terminals out to the those customers who could navigate the complex minefield of merchant services. I asked politely for an email address so that I could.. Politely tell Ladco, elavon, XLN and spire exactly what I thought of their service and what they could do with their contract... I was told I could not cancel even though we don't have a working terminal...

i informed the halfwit that I had cancled the direct debit..... He thought about what I said for a moment and then argued Elavon would simply deduct the cost from our card payments... I called him an idiot and hung up.

anyone else having problems with Ladco, elavon, XLN or Spire? 

Well, it's good to be back....

in terms of rehabilitative work it could be argued that society should metorpholicaly reach out and hug the hoodie. We should not blame his benefit claiming single mother of 5 or the lack of paternal influence for his limited intelligence or indeed his failure to attend state funded education. 

We should embrace the creative side of this vandalism and accept that this poor misguided and misunderstood youth simply wants the be the next  Banksy.....

oh who am I kidding, some things should remain sacred and the punishment harsh. I agree with Steve, if it was my kids I would be doing the flogging myself. 

Boundries and laws create civilised societies.