spend the money on police, when the crooks are arrested ask them why they carried a blade and got drunk and they answer "coz my mum was a legspreader and ma dad wuz someone who got his jollies between dole checks" "an a wuz neglekit" so a hud tae grow up on ma ain" .

With that answer start fixing the problem,

Family breakdown and the removal of fathers from their children's lives is the primary factor of the 'booze and blades culture'.

1 in 3 of children in poor households do not see their father as part of their immediate family or at all.

1 in 4 of all children similarly.

Thats around 3 or 4 million + children who do not have their father in their lives.

We know what the problem is, time to address the cause rather than just the symptoms.

Ensure fathers are seen as important in their children's lives as mother's, ensure that mothers and fathers are both responsible for the care and financial responsibility of their children whether together or apart.

Every country that is top of the UNICEF list of children's happiness has governments that promote shared parenting by parents (together or apart). This country is bottom of the whole list, says it all.

Agreed to a point. I had a father in my life & a good one, possibly too passive but he hadn't had one in his life due to working overseas & war causing an early death but I came very close to stabbing someone on 2 occassions in my teens & early 20's while very drunk. Solution: I reduced drinking & eventually quit drinking for years & never had the urge to cut anyone when I resumed drinking, sometimes heavily & frequently. I still drink, rarely & in small amounts & always carry a knife. A man without a knife is a man without a life. A knife is a tool, unfortnately so are some of the users!

More nonsense from MacAskill.

"experts" who can talk to "hard to reach" groups.

UTTER DRIVEL.

In Singapore they use the cane on some and hang the others - and guesss what?

Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

No need for 'research'.

Kenny the Communist wants us to chat with the violent thugs (and terrorists) instead of jailing them for a long time.

What next? Another knife amnsesty?

The fact that MacAskill is taken seriously and not laughed out of Holyrood tells us something about Scotland.

BTW
Sharia Law wihout the death penalty isn't Sharia Law. Mr 2:2 MacAskill missed that one.

So how come Mr soft-on-crime Salmond can say things like " the Islamic faith is one of the world's great religions" (September 2001)?

Kenny MacAskill is totally unfit for the job. The sooner wee Eck gets rid of him the better.

As pointed out by #4, Singapore does not have problems like this. They don't have wee neds, thugs and schemies as anyone acting like them is dealt with severely.

MacAskill would be better spending the money on buying birches and cats o' nine tails for knife carrying thugs, as well as building a few borstals and bringing in decent sentences for violent thugs. Moreover, instead of having them lazing around their comfortable prison cells, watching their television sets, get them out on chain gangs and make them work.

MacAskill should resign now as he is turning the Scottish justice system into a joke.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest-national-news/UK-39Islamists-creating-nogo-areas39.3644639.jp

What the posters have been saying about Singapore is 100% right. I have walked the streets of Chinatown in Singapore at midnight. No fear whatsoever.
In Scotland I would not dare go out after dark.

Instead why not take a leaf out of the Roman's book and use Ibrox and Celtic park for entertainment.

'Chaviators' should be forced to battle each other, with blades, bottles and gold chains.

Big crowds, and the money raised can be used to give the survivirs a good wash with dettol.

The solution would in part be to revert to tough policing and tough sentencing as was the policy in the 1930s to break the back of the notorious razor gangs.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=2547057

If minimum sentences for carrying were upheld and police search powers increased, then we might be getting somewhere.

If i hear one more bloody politician say its time to get tough on knife crime I swear to god I will scream.
The people of Scotland dont want reaserch they want to introduce the cat of nine, the birch etc

3# With your "Mind Set" I can only say,GET WELL SOON.!!

Remember when referring to Singapore, you're also talking about a country with very strict population control measures (encouragement of sterilisation, no tax benefits with 3+ children, see http://www.photius.com/countries/singapore/society/singapore_society_population_control_p~1530.html). Its general success is due to all round legislation, not just concerning crime.

Also see the article on psychiatric conditions in that country and the conclusion on the benefits of an extended family (although this is just a small study):

"It is likely that in the Singapore context, an extended family with its extended support system is protective for the child and adolescent. Single parents, separation and divorce have been shown to be associated with increased psychiatric problems in children(19). The rates of parental divorce in our study (14%) were much higher than the general population (1.2%)(10) which tends to strengthen this belief."
( http://www.sma.org.sg/smj/4002/articles/4002a8.html )

#13. I know nothing about Norway except they are intelligent enough to stay out of the EU. Having said that, when looking up Norway and similar problems on the internet, I did come up up with a sentance which in some way describes yourself, CG (only a short-term sentence, mind you, though you should try a longer experience at the UK equivalent of Kashchenko, perhaps* ) : "Hauge ... experimented with peasant utopian & cooperative ideas, he sort to practice a form of egalitarianism that crossed traditional class and gender boundaries. But by the end of his life the radical peasant from Smalene turned reactionary". Try this in your address bar: ir.lib.sfu.ca/retrieve/2450/etd2051.pdf .
and maybe this:
* -- see http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901695,00.html ; also Peter Reddaway 'Uncensored Russia' (1972).

#15. Haven't a clue, my qualifications lie in another discipline & not the classifications of mediaeval history.

It seems to me, however, that your reference to Marxism is too stereotypical (deliberately so?). Given the passages I have read in the thesis: Marx saw peasants as conservative to change and in this sense, by encouraging co-operatives, Hauge was a radical (preacher from a farming background). In this the religious were at the forefront where they encouraged independence from the established church, which represented the government amongst the farmers. From what I read Hauge fits into your first definition. But as the thesis makes clear, there can be no single (or dual) definition of peasant culture throughout Europe. What happened to Hauge's movement is that it imploded of its own accord & Hauge was imprisoned on charges of fraud. when the revision of Europe occurred, Hauge followed the overarching policy of the European elite in contrast to his former years.

As the thesis author Glen Ryland nicely quotes at beginning of chapter 1: "'the most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution'" (Hannah Arendt 1963 'On Revolution')

#14/15/16
Very eloquent but what has that got to do with the article.
Or am I missing something?
As a carpenter (now semi retired) I have had a Victorinox in my pocket for as long as I can remember and will carry one as long as it pleases me.
You would be surprised by the number of midle aged men who cling on to their Swiss Army knives.

Who are these so-called and self-appointed 'experts'? Middle class fan**es who live on another planet. Mr. McAskill. If you're found carrying a knife: 5 years, no remission and extra time for bad behaviour. If you use a knife: 20 years, no remission and extra time etc. If you kill someone with a knife, either deliberately or because you were p*shed or because you were moronic enough to just happen to have one on you at the time: prepare to draw your last breath in prison. There, Kenny, that'll work and it's just saved a lot of time and money.

#20
Wow! Maybe you could borrow my Victorinox to dig out the deeply ingrained chip on your shoulder

#21 Waspy

What's a Victorinox?

#12 is correct. To compare Singapore with the UK is ludicrous, for a start they do not have 1 in 3 children in poor families, with no father (1 in 4) in general population.

Family is all important in Singapore, family means mother, father and children and normally extended family in close proximity.

Having been to Singapore numerous times when I lived in Hong Kong, the comparison's between it and the UK are laughable.

As for the draconian punishments, all very well, but they will do little or nothing to reduce the problem.

#13 #14 Norway is a better comparison but still the huge difference between Norway and the UK is that fathers have equal rights in Norway and are promoted to be active in their children's lives (together or apart).

Shared Parenting during a relationship is encouraged and if the relationship breaks down, shared parenting is still promoted.

The result is that Norway is in the top 4 of the UNICEF report on child happiness, whereas the UK languishes at the bottom.

Until you make families responsible for their children and help them to be responsible by encouraging them with law and tax benefits, families being mother and father, you will continue to see a large growth in these kind of probems.

Children need their mother in their lives, whether together or apart.

Presently the tax and law system in the backward UK rewards single parents and penalises poor income families (mother and father) and discourages fathers from being actively involved in their children's lives.

Shame on Gordon Broon who has exacerbated this problem a hundred fold in the last 10 years.

The fruits of his warped priorities are coming home and we will all suffer as a society for many years to come.

#22
Look it up

But Singapore has a higher suside rate and higher rates of organised crime than the UK (per head of population).

#23
Please tell me what has your comments to do with the article "Booze and Blades" ????
Or again am I missing something?
These forums are not a political soap box though some try to use them as such.

#24 'Waspy'

I rest my case.

I think I,m getting tho novovirus.
Either that or a lot of postings today are making me feel sick!

#27
Dont leave it alone in the Waverly it will take a runner

#28

And who appointed you forum monitor?

anyway good afternoon all and time to let some other DHs space

Booze and blades' study aims to stem violence
-------------------------------------

What a joke....A study is a paper exercise based on statistics that can be politically manipulated.

If you want to stem excessive booze and illegal blades . Then up the anti......

Excessive boozing in public (on streets ):
Brings instant fine £1,000 and 48 hours in jail.

Carrying illegal Knife in public (on streets):
Brings instant fine £2,000 and 72 hours in jail.

Stabbing a person resulting in serious medical condition
Brings instant fine £20,000 and 20 years in prison (no parole)

Stabbing a person resulting in death.
Brings instant fine £50,000 and 50 years in prison (no parole)

Get tough with criminals and abusers.

GC

#32
Wow again.
People who stab people dont have two pennies to rub together.
Criminals and abusers dont give a sh1t

A hundred and seventy-five thousand quid for a report on the booze and blades culture in Scotland? I'm an expert, where do I sign up?

A year later you'll get a nice, glossy report full of graphs and jargon to tell you that all the little, deprived darlings need is a hug and some remedial education because it's all the fault of their absent fathers.

I will not, however, be conducting 'on the ground' studies in the areas suggested. I'm only silly, not daft.

34
John Blackley,
Austin, TX

Hey Dude ,
I just spent 6 weeks in Austin. Its the only place in Texas worth living in. The rest is filled with pot belly red necks , and criminals like BUSH.

But Austin is cosmopolitan. And thanks to UT and its 50,000 students Austin is a live and vibrating City including its million + BATS.

It has terrific restaurants and great food at low prices.

GC