Swearing Fines

Scotland is bad... Especially the whereabouts of Glasgow.
Edinburghs quiet though, there's loads of goths and emos running around and the police barely patrol. Not to mention there isn't much smog compared to Glasgow.

I'd love to move to Edinburgh or the Highlands, only shipping charges are a rip-off to the Highlands.

One of my friends is moving to Orkney. Having been there many years ago, I'd like to go with her!
 
LOL, How sad.. Thats the way of the world though..Big brother will look out for you..

this part kills me.


"Attorney-General Robert Clark said the idea was to lower the police workload by allowing them to issue fines instead of tackling bad language using the court system."


So apparently you can not go to court and dispute it?? That would never fly up here...Yet : )
 
LOL, How sad.. Thats the way of the world though..Big brother will look out for you..

Which big brother? The gummint or the really Big Brothers who tell the gummint what to do?

The gummint cannot do anything that the big guys don't want or they get thrown out so, given how little interest Rupert & co have shown in the issue, it's clear they're happy with the law.
 
MFB, Orkney is one of the most astoundingly beautiful places on earth. If another opportunity arose for me to go there, I would be on it like a badger oan mince.
Chris, Edinburgh isnt much better than Glasgow. I would probably say its worse. Still, at least its not Dundee!
 
MFB, Orkney is one of the most astoundingly beautiful places on earth. If another opportunity arose for me to go there, I would be on it like a badger oan mince.
Chris, Edinburgh isnt much better than Glasgow. I would probably say its worse. Still, at least its not Dundee!

I went there when I was twelve and it was amazing. My Dad used to go up there every year with his sisters and parents until he was about seventeen and they used to stay with the same old couple each time in Birsay. They were still around when I went there and I stayed with them too.

My aunt actually has a house there - but I'm not sure I approve of a rich Southerner buying a second home in Orkney. I'm not sure if that would be considered fair on the local housing market. I would love to live there if the opportunity arose, but I'm not sure my other half would! She's stuck on an island at the moment and I'm not sure if she likes living away from major cities!
 
Which big brother? The gummint or the really Big Brothers who tell the gummint what to do?

I am sure "Big Brother" would have better things to do than stop people from swearing

..."good heavens!...we can't have that sort of debauchery happening"...

...no, this swearing matter is down to the courts and the police system

Anyhow, nineteen eighty-four and the last half of the twentieth century demonstrated how well you can control people by controlling the language, although people can thing outside of the confines of their language, language does shape thought to some extent.

I have heard a pithy quote somewhere:

"How do you tame a dragon?"
"Give it a name"

This wont take hold in Scotland, swearing is part of our fuc*ing language.

Swearing is part of most languages, but the attitude to swearing is different to different cultures, age groups, social groups etc.

Like I said, I doubt a police officer would do this kind of thing...unless they were really p****d at someone.
 
I am sure "Big Brother" would have better things to do than stop people from swearing

..."good heavens!...we can't have that sort of debauchery happening"...

...no, this swearing matter is down to the courts and the police system

Anyhow, nineteen eighty-four and the last half of the twentieth century demonstrated how well you can control people by controlling the language, although people can thing outside of the confines of their language, language does shape thought to some extent.

I have heard a pithy quote somewhere:

"How do you tame a dragon?"
"Give it a name"



Swearing is part of most languages, but the attitude to swearing is different to different cultures, age groups, social groups etc.

Like I said, I doubt a police officer would do this kind of thing...unless they were really p****d at someone.

Yes, I think it's only going to be used when the police are cranky ... for now. What I don't like is that it could be used against civil disobedience because in those kinds of emotionally charged situations people tend to swear and this law makes it easy to shut them down.

Yep, I do think the real drivers of policy - big biz - care about it. Street loudmouths are bad for tourism, property prices in affected neighbourhoods ... and there are other costs.
 
I could see a few technical problems with this.

Say one guy who likes this law just so happens to get a recording of someone in a shouting match. The problem is that the audio quality is fuzzy / crappy and there's one bit where the guy sounds like he's cursing even though a reality check would reveal that he didn't curse. Would the guy's fate rest on whether or not the police think it sounds like cursing?

If there's no system for appealing these fines that's similar to how you go to court for speeding tickets (in America, at least), then that guy's screwed if the police think he's guilty.

Gotta love the inner workings of the government...
 
I could see a few technical problems with this.

Say one guy who likes this law just so happens to get a recording of someone in a shouting match. The problem is that the audio quality is fuzzy / crappy and there's one bit where the guy sounds like he's cursing even though a reality check would reveal that he didn't curse. Would the guy's fate rest on whether or not the police think it sounds like cursing?

If there's no system for appealing these fines that's similar to how you go to court for speeding tickets (in America, at least), then that guy's screwed if the police think he's guilty.

Gotta love the inner workings of the government...

Nah, the law will never be prosecuted via recordings. You have an on the spot fine for saying naughty words in front of police - most likely people who are calling them f* pigs or pissed out of their brains and have a random Tourette-like episode (hmm, nice discrimination case possibility for people with Tourette's :)

A year or so ago our prime minister was effectively sacked by our mining multinationals in tandem with the Murdoch press. No law is passed that does not meet the approval of the guys who really run the country.

Follow the $$ and you find out the reason for every law passed, rejected or amended.
 
If they applied that here... This island's economy would soar up, up and away! But they wouldn't, cause the police and the government are the first to swear. XD
 
But they wouldn't, cause the police and the government are the first to swear. XD

Hence the sheer bloody hypocrisy of this feeble ruling. 10 god damned years we waited for a change of government in this state - FWIW, I have no real political leaning, but it would be a very cold day in hell before the Victorian Labor Party ever received a vote of mine. A greater squanderer of other peoples money, you are never likely to lay eyes on.

We finally get one and THIS is the very best they can come up with??? Honestly! I feel like I'm back at kindergarten.

Bloody nanny state.....no question about it. Probably the only time in my life where I wish I was a Kiwi! :)
 
The difference between Liberal and Labor? Minor tweaks. Two peas in a pod, as befitting the administrative arm of multinational companies.

As for the nanny state ... I haven't noticed a great hue and outcry. The Murdoch press don't seem interested and they're the ones who tell people what to think. Clearly they are relaxed and comfortable with it ...
 
...and what ever happened to freedom of speech? If you say something in public someone is bound to be offended, that does not mean you should be shut up.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

I like this kind of attitude, whether it is about swearing or the opinion you try to express. If you do not like what someone has to say, be reasonable.

Perhaps I am not the kind of person to support personally restrictive legislation if I get p****d at someone.

Politics and mass media thrives on spin, but so far (strangely enough Polly) the reaction to this legislation in the paper (which I often read) is not at all supportive...

...or maybe its because I choose to read The Age (Fairfax) instead of the Herald Sun (Newscorp)...both are still owned by huge multi-national companies.
 
Politics and mass media thrives on spin, but so far (strangely enough Polly) the reaction to this legislation in the paper (which I often read) is not at all supportive...

...or maybe its because I choose to read The Age (Fairfax) instead of the Herald Sun (Newscorp)...both are still owned by huge multi-national companies.

Fairfax leans towards Labor while News Ltd publications are basically the Liberal Daily ... and since it's a Liberal govt initiative the latter doesn't care. Both sides still favour miners and developers over little people apart from "human interest" and hard luck stories to pick up the votes of "the battlers".

Whatever, when it comes to influence - both here and abroad - Fairfax is small potatoes compared with the Murdoch empire.

Bear in mind that free speech isn't really free ... defamation, discrimination, incitement to violence, treason etc.
 
Bear in mind that free speech isn't really free ... defamation, discrimination, incitement to violence, treason etc.

True, true. People can talk all day about how us westerners enjoy "freedoms" but really there are a myriad of laws in the way of such things.

Fairfax leans towards Labor while News Ltd publications are basically the Liberal Daily ... and since it's a Liberal govt initiative the latter doesn't care. Both sides still favour miners and developers over little people apart from "human interest" and hard luck stories to pick up the votes of "the battlers".

Hmmm...I always thought that The Age was a somewhat intellectual and conservative (both stylistically and content wise) newspaper, but the media takes sides and those sides are not always the same...they change what they report...

...these companies do not necessarily have to be so party-oriented, they are business minded.

Read with a critical mind.

I can almost see this thread being locked, so keep the tone calm.
 
True, true. People can talk all day about how us westerners enjoy "freedoms" but really there are a myriad of laws in the way of such things.

Personally, I don't mind speech restrictions up to a point. After all, we happily accept the no-swearing rule on this and other forums, which is administered in a commonsense way. No one seems to mind if it's not gratuitous or abusive.

Thing is, with freedom comes responsibility and, as we know, some people are either damaged goods or no damn good and - as the saying goes - they spoil it for everyone. Such is life. Get a big enough case of apples and you're going to get some bad ones.

When you think about it, we're restricted in what we "say" with drums too. If you say the wrong things with the kit you're judged in the court of public opinion. We spend a lot of our lives just reacting to things that crop up, that we have to do. You can't even be truly free alone on a desert island because Mother Nature won't let you have it all your own way.

The worst thing about the law is it's just another small step of restrictiveness, and it has a bit of a juvenile flavour ... naughty child, don't swear ... people would have actually sat in a room deliberating on this lol ... I guess all those complex issue papers on their desks didn't seem too inviting :)


Hmmm...I always thought that The Age was ... conservative

Yep, Labor Party, the other half of our democratic charade.


... keep the tone calm.

I'll do my best :)
 
Personally, I don't mind speech restrictions up to a point. After all, we happily accept the no-swearing rule on this and other forums, which is administered in a commonsense way. No one seems to mind if it's not gratuitous or abusive.

Thing is, with freedom comes responsibility and, as we know, some people are either damaged goods or no damn good and - as the saying goes - they spoil it for everyone. Such is life. Get a big enough case of apples and you're going to get some bad ones.

When you think about it, we're restricted in what we "say" with drums too. If you say the wrong things with the kit you're judged in the court of public opinion. We spend a lot of our lives just reacting to things that crop up, that we have to do. You can't even be truly free alone on a desert island because Mother Nature won't let you have it all your own way.

The worst thing about the law is it's just another small step of restrictiveness, and it has a bit of a juvenile flavour ... naughty child, don't swear ... people would have actually sat in a room deliberating on this lol ... I guess all those complex issue papers on their desks didn't seem too inviting :)




Yep, Labor Party, the other half of our democratic charade.




I'll do my best :)

I don't like to, but i have to agree with you about rupert murdoch and his media empire, the new "British Empire" as it were. I personally blame the people for the state of our respective "democracies" though. The media tell us everything to think- but we don't have to listen to them. Unfortunately, the best chance we had to stop the "tribal politics" of the same 2 parties winning again and again in the UK which was a referendum on changing the voting system was crushed by a massive majority because of scaremongering by the big papers and parties.
 
I don't like to, but i have to agree with you about rupert murdoch and his media empire, the new "British Empire" as it were. I personally blame the people for the state of our respective "democracies" though. The media tell us everything to think- but we don't have to listen to them. Unfortunately, the best chance we had to stop the "tribal politics" of the same 2 parties winning again and again in the UK which was a referendum on changing the voting system was crushed by a massive majority because of scaremongering by the big papers and parties.

Eddie, I know what you mean. I wish I was wrong too.

It starts with scrimping on education and getting people so busy with work and family that they don't have time to think. Sitting and thinking - meditation - is thought of as indolence today but over the years I'm coming to believe that taking time out to gain perspective on ourselves, people and our place in the universe is really, really important. That was supposed to be the point of religion but it got hijacked by clowns who just want to kick around independent women and gays (divide and rule is an easy way for inferior intellects to achieve power and the church hierarchies are a good example of this). Religion, like politics, seems more and more to resemble a football team.

Whatever, that's just where we are in the power cycle at the moment - a force rises, hubris sets in, it falls, another force rises ...

Not that I think the way things have transpired with our weakened democracies ("mediocracy" seems a fitting term for Rupert's Kingdom) has been the result of plotting and design ... no conspiracy theories here. It's just the result of opportunism by both big biz and governments over the years and the tendency of power to flow towards the powerful. No billionaire will be charged for swearing :)

Even if you have a big clean out as happened in the 1890s with the rise of the union movement when children were working in coal mines etc, the cycle just happens all over again ... growth, hubris, breakdown, compost, new growth ...
 
Unfortunately, the best chance we had to stop the "tribal politics" of the same 2 parties winning again and again in the UK which was a referendum on changing the voting system was crushed by a massive majority because of scaremongering by the big papers and parties.

What is interesting to note is how populism and fear are still great elements of the mass media in the west and in third-world dictatorships.

After all, we happily accept the no-swearing rule on this and other forums, which is administered in a commonsense way. No one seems to mind if it's not gratuitous or abusive.

Ahhh, the social contract at work in an internet forum for drummers.

Sitting and thinking - meditation - is thought of as indolence today but over the years I'm coming to believe that taking time out to gain perspective on ourselves, people and our place in the universe is really, really important.

Agreed, living for the moment seems like such a fitting philosophy for such people who take time to focus through meditation or other means (like sport (which can be "zen" for some people), yoga, tai chi, music (especially the deep improvised kind), fine visual art etc.)...very similar disciplines if you ask me...they suit different people - not everyone has an ear for music or the patience and body for yoga.

is thought of as indolence today

That is a symptom of the herd mentality of the Western world (which is, ironically, - given our conformist consumerist lifestyles - day threatening individualism)...do not be dragged down.
 
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