Violence is not the Answer

Yesterdays P&L: GBP 140.00

Yesterdays Booze: 1 liter of cheap French Red, 6 large bottles of Cobra Lager

Trading these markets is meaningless, I just don't have anything else to do.

Rather interested in this story about the Asian guy who received a custodial sentence for beating a guy to a pulp after he broke into his house. It seems that his response was heavy handed but lets clarify this, if it had happened in America the guy would be dead. American often seem bemused that in this country people who trespass onto your property to commit theft or rape or murder are entitled to protection. I have to admit I tend to agree. If you don't want to get hurt then don't break into someones house and tie up their wife - it really is that simple.

My ex-girlfriend was arrested not too long ago because, while she was out shopping, a Somalian shoved her and stole her handbag. She had a bottle of wine in her hand and bashed the guy over the back of the head, cutting him rather badly. She retrieved her belongings and gave him a few boots for his trouble. While this was going on in a busy West London street, some do-gooder at the bus stop phoned the police and reported her. Didn't report the theft mind you, just the five foot eight inch ex for brutalizing the poor six foot plus mugger. Upon being interviewed at the police station she was told he had been hospitalized, to which she replied "good - serves him right". Now if I had been with her and beaten the guy, I would be serving time for a hate crime, but as she is South East Asian, its difficult to charge her with racism.

On another occasion, some years back, my father who is hard as nails was caught on CCTV in Southwark/Bermondsy. Four fellows tried to mug him and after flooring one of them with a single punch the others ran off. My father would have probably been in a bit of trouble if the four young black men in their early twenties had been prepared to press charges and admit that they had ran from a fifty eight year old, five foot seven inch man.

The mistake the attackers made in both cases was not knowing their victim. My ex girlfriend is from Jakarta, which is nothing like the post cards you see from Land of smiles, Thailand or even spiritual Bali. She is quite a tough person and comes from a place where many of her community were slaughtered by the ethnic Indonesians. She is unlikely to back down from someone who is brave enough to attack a single woman. My father has always been hard as nails and was dealing out beatings in Govan and Kelvinhaugh when he was just a youth and I guess these guys just caught him on a bad day.

I suppose if you fancy your chances as a street criminal, the moral is either learn to pick pockets or pick your victims.