20 Not 22…

Reading through releases on the Police Federation website I found the following…

Police Long Service Medal – qualifying age reduced: The Police Medal recognising long service will now be issued to those who have served for 20 years, rather than 22, the Home Office announced this week. The award now fits in with other emergency services and will be back-dated to 19th January, 2010.

Having campaigned for many years on this issue, Police Federation Chair Paul McKeever says: “The Federation is delighted that the qualifying age has been reduced to 20 years and we thank the Policing Minister and Home Secretary for listening to us and pursuing the matter.”

I have to ask; was the reason really so it ‘fits in with other emergency services’ or, could it actually be that so many pissed off police officers are leaving the service before the 22yr point?

Illness Or Excuse?

I tend to get a little sceptical and cynical about the raft of ‘new age’ illnesses and ‘syndromes’ that have sprouted up over recent years. Are they due simply to an advancement in medical science or, is it the desire of certain physicians to make a name (or profit) for themselves? My scepticism is fueled slightly by the fact a large proportion of these new conditions appear to be discovered in the USA, a country where even the family pet kitty can get extensive psychotherapy to cure its ‘adiction’ to mice, for a price of course!

Now I have no wish to put down or belittle anyone who has a condition (of any sort) that adversely affects their life however; it appears that many people ‘suffering’ from these new ‘conditions’ appear to be children or young persons. Why is this? Could some of the ‘illnesses’ actually be down to bad behaviour, tantrums, poor parenting, the fact that kids expect freedoms before they have the knowledge, experience and maturity to exercise those freedoms?

One example of a ‘new syndrome’ (shown below), came to my attention the other day and was probably what prompted my thought process. That is not to say I am attempting to rubbish the existence of Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS) in any way, or detract from the difficulties being suffered by anyone diagnosed with the ‘condition’. My only reason for using KLS was to give an example of my point…

Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS): a rare and complex neurological disorder characterized by periods of excessive amounts of sleep and altered behavior. The disorder strikes adolescents primarily. At the onset of an episode the patient becomes progressively drowsy and sleeps for most of the day and night (hypersomnolence), waking only to eat or go to the bathroom. When awake, the patient’s whole demeanor is changed, often appearing “spacey” or childlike. When awake he experiences confusion, disorientation, complete lack of energy (lethargy), and lack of emotions (apathy). Most patients report that everything seems out of focus, and that they are hypersensitive to noise and light. In some cases, food cravings (compulsive hyperphagia) are exhibited. Instances of uninhibited hypersexuality during an episode have also been reported. (Kleine-Levin Syndrome Foundation)

I will leave it to the readers to decide if KLS (and others) are real, implied or invented by ambitious doctors trying to earn a crust? If nothing else comes out of my thoughts perhaps a wider section of the public will have heard of KLS and understand it a little better?

Load of Cock…

Free Willy campaign launched after 4ft statue seized: POLICE have swooped on a furniture store to seize a huge stone willy after it was branded indecent. (Darlington & Stockton Times)

Free Willy!

The owner of the Simply Dutch shop, Jason Hadlow, is well miffed about the apparent ‘overzealous’ police action and I have to agree! 

He has been told he must pay an £80 fine to reclaim the unusual garden ornament and was subjected to a fine after the £200 hand-carved 4ft sandstone appendage was removed from his shop by North Yorkshire Police. Apparently some member of the public had complained about it being offensive??? 

The complainant was probably either a female (out of desire) or a male out of  jealousy) either way, I bet neither of them could cope with a holiday to Italy or Greece where naked stone statues with appendages abound… Apparently a Facebook Free Willy Campaign has commenced – see also http://www.free-willy.org.uk/