As it was a broiler, I had to sit still, so I watched a video, “The Beach”. Lots of authentic Thailand scenery, with an effective portrayal of how it is always loser young men who destroy every paradise. I saw Thailand back when it was tropical Eden. Today, it is a cesspool. The sure sign a country has gone downhill is the number of drunken Australians in the streets.The plot tells the tale, no matter where you go, some deadbeat single man is going to follow and mess things up. Everything of value is in short supply and born followers do not just want their piece of the action because, being followers, they know each of them dilutes the resources. They want your entire share and the only way to get it is to steal it or destroy it if they can’t. I don’t know where cloud nine is, but I know it is a very long distance in the opposite direction from boring, uneducated people.
I can also tell you a key ingredient of happiness: minimal contact with the undisciplined masses. I spent the first half of my life around them in what amounted to forced association. I had no choice but to be in contact with total jerks who never committed to anything because they knew the minute they did, you would work around them and that they cannot stand. Random acts of stupidity served them well. No matter how small, make sure you always have a quiet space where you can lock the gate. Privacy is a fundamental of true enjoyment. Just be cautious, for how it aggravates and tortures those shut out.
On the way to the library, I passed a scene that disgusted me. The police had a hand-cuffed young man sitting on the curb, questioning him in plain view of traffic. Don’t get me wrong, I am not pro-crime, but I do believe there are serious things wrong with the way police conduct themselves. There are far better ways to handle most situations. As it is, the police seem to revel in publicly embarrassing suspects and they clearly just love those celebrity busts.
For openers, I suggest most arrests could be accomplished discretely. Thus, if a person is acquitted, there is minimal stigma. No justice is served by flashing lights and squad cars for gossipy neighbors to gawk at. As it stands, the permanent damage done by a false arrest is not even actionable (you can’t sue the police). That is an open invitation for manipulation. Why, next thing you know, police will be mounting video cameras in their cars and provoking high speed chases and selling them to television stations.
I also believe many “follow-on crimes” are committed by ordinary people who exercise bad judgment. If you accidentally ran over a drug dealer in a bad area of town at night, you’d panic and get the hell out of there. I would, he might have brothers around, armed brothers. A person who wants to turn themselves in [later] should have some option other than going to a police station where he will treated like a career criminal and locked up. There ought to be a safe haven where persons can seek impartial “due process” without involving the police and the deliberately degrading arrest scenario.
[Author's note 2015-07-08: my connotation of the term "follow-on crimes" are those which make normal human behavior after a crime into further criminal charges. The Internet has forced such events to the front page every day. An example is the man who escapes from prison. What he does while on the run is still part of escaping from prison unless he causes additional further harm. But the system has cooked up dozens of follow-on crimes. Fleeing to avoid prosecution, that's a good one. These additional charges make a mockery of the legal system. Why not add failing to report for breakfast and make it carry two life sentences so you can really teach the guy a lesson? I think you get my drift.]
If you study the justice process, believe it or not, for anyone who voluntarily comes forward, there is no legal requirement to be arrested and thrown in jail, to be questioned by the police, or to “make a statement”. That is correct, there is no obligation in the entire arraignment and court process that states it is even any business of the police department. We are all conditioned to assume that getting the cops involved is a given. It is not. Nor would a safe haven be any more expensive than the way things are now done, for there is very little flight risk. People run from brutality, not justice.
What a novel concept, going to court and being convicted without any police. Yet, it is entirely possible. I’m for the other extreme, that if a person is acquitted, all evidence, testimony and records of the event should be permanently destroyed in accordance with the law that states no person should suffer more than once for the same event. As it stands, that young man, even if innocent, is marked for life.
Y’day I dropped into the Legion at the invite of Bad Bob. He said they had karaoke. The catch is those vets must be from the Civil War. The DJ put my name on the list at position four, but as more regulars arrived, I got bounced to sixth, then eleventh. I walked out. Years back, I once looked at the software that allowed the list to be so changed and I laughed at it. Who would do such a stupid thing? Okie Dokey Karaoke, that’s who.
I stayed an hour because it was country music. I met Patsy Cline’s ex-husband, he still carries pictures of them in his wallet. His favorite was an early gig with a very young-looking Willie Nelson. This Legion was slow cry-in-your-beer country music, which I avoid, so I don’t intend to perform there. As an individual, I don’t buy into the play anything musician mold. I play only tunes that I personally enjoy. You may have noticed.
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