Monday, August 14, 2006

Issue 379 - Mon 14th Aug 2006

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

Today I want to carry on with the a point I made last week, but to start with I want to tell you about something at the weekend which shows in a nutshell why I think sport can teach so much about life.

In the European Athletics Championships, the women's high jump was in full flow.
One of the athletes was a Bulgarian, Venelina Veneva.
If you ask my that's a bit like me calling a daughter of mine Bryony, but there we go.

Venelina was going along holding her own in a stiff competition.
As she approached the bar on one of her jumps, she put her full weight on her ankle, and it buckled underneath her.
She collapsed in a heap on the mat, in a lot of pain.
10 minutes later though, she tried the height again, with a heavily strapped ankle, and cleared it, going to claim the silver medal.

To me that's impressive.
She could have given up, blaming her ankle, but she sucked it up battled through the difficulty, and came through.
Most athletes compete with some injury or other, and it shows that in life, when we come across the barriers in our way, we are not the only one it happens to, and although giving up may be the easy short term option, the better long term action is to fight through.

Ok, back to my point from last week.
This week we only have *510 places* left in our prisons, and something I read in the paper leads me to think about the difference between offering help and being a doormat.

As a country, the UK is welcoming and accomodating to those seeking asylum from other countries.
Not all asylum seekers seem to think it fit to live by our laws in exchange for that help.

One asylum seeker constantly drove his car without insurance and while banned.
As he was continually caught, he was punished with... another ban for him to ignore.
When driving while under such a ban, he knocked down a 12 year old girl.
He got out, saw what he had done, and ran off.
The girl died.
He was put in prison for just 4 months, and banned for 3 years.

Out of prison, he ignored his ban and was caught again.
As an asylum seeker, he has been refused right to stay here, as his claim is not deemed real, but he can't be deported because his particular country is deemed 'unstable'.

So, guess what punishment he received?
Another ban.
I'm sure he'll stick to it, aren't you?

If you ask me, when you ask someone for help, which he did, and you are looked after, which is what this country did, you'd damn well better show respect, and if you break the rules, you should expect to be sent packing.
Is that too much to ask?

It isn't politically correct to say things like that.
I'm not a racist in any way, never have been, but since it's my taxes that pay for people like this, I'm entitled to my opinion.

It comes back to one of the simplest, truest life mottos you an adopt -
'Treat others as you would be treated yourself.'

Ok, that's it for today, I'll see you next week for the launch of my new website.
Have a good week.

'Til Next Time,
Health and Happiness,
Gordon
Get involved with my Marathon at:
http://www.thegreatgordinomarathon.com

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