FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alex Salmond has evidently taken some time off from his duties presiding over the Scottish parliament to watch Braveheart. Though fortunately he has yet to reach for the broadsword and the wode he has taken to calling for Scottish independence rather loudly and rather frequently.

I can't say I'm impressed by this. I am a Scotsman (in case you hadn't guessed from previous posts) and I am fiercely proud to be so. I wear my kilt regularly, I stand six inches taller when I hear the bagpipes and I actively encourage (nay force) friends to visit. That said, I live in England and I enjoy doing so. Employment wasn't the only reason I chose to move down. I think the south of England is also a wonderful part of the world. Tied up with all this is the fact that as well as being a Scot, I am also extremely proud to be British. Had fate (and genetics) dealt me a better hand, I would be serving in the Army defending and representing Britain (ok it wouldn't hurt to be in a Scottish regiment; the combination of a kilt and military uniform would certainly not damage my ability to get interest from girls!!). I am not alone in these sentiments. I know and know of many Scots living in England and indeed around the world that view themselves as both Scottish and British.

Herein lies the crux of the problem with Scottish independence as I see it. Culturally, having a Scottish and a British identity are not mutually exclusive. Arguably, they are complimentary. Yes, we rather vocally support England's opposition in sporting fixtures. Yes, we mock "softy southerners" and yes we create many, many other slights against our neighbours but as far as I can tell, this is done with the utmost of affection (as is the banter between the two main cities Edinburgh and Glasgow).

A straw poll of friends and family both in and out of Scotland is very much against the dissolution of the union. To me, this suggests that Mr Salmond was elected as an anti-labour vote rather than a pro-SNP measure. Forcing a referendum may provide rather a sharp wake-up call. Of course there are many economic and political arguments both for and against. I can't pretend to understand these well; partially because I haven't really been paying attention to them but mostly because I think with this vote, more than most, decisions will be made subjectively rather than objectively. Frankly, when decisions with such effects on national identity are made, I hope they are taken subjectively.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. It will be interesting to hopefully hear the opinions of others on this topic... from either side of the border.

JR

Assisted Death

Today, assisted death has featured heavily in the news. A pro-euthanasia think tank has published a report advocating that doctors should be allowed to prescribe drugs to allow those with less than year to live to commit suicide. Currently, helping anybody to commit suicide is illegal under the suicide act and is punishable by up to fourteen years in prison. Strangely, suicide its self is not illegal (although how one would go about prosecuting it is anyone's guess).

Assisted suicide has occupied my thoughts for years now. As well as having my own moral views on it, I have developed more a more academic perspective. My law school dissertation was examining the legal issues surrounding assisted suicide. I won't bore you with the details (although gratifyingly my conclusions were the same as some extremely senior judges who passed judgement on a test case on this very topic about a week after I handed my work in). In addition to this, I started my academic life as a medical student and there was forced to confront issues surrounding death and dying.

Medicine has progressed almost exponentially over the last 200 years or so. Today doctors can do things which even a few years ago would seem unthinkable. People are living longer and longer. However, although much attention has been devoted to increasing quantity of life, similar devotion has not been given to quality of life. Many people live in pain, suffering and depression because their health is failing. It is for this reason that the law needs to be examined and, in my opinion, be tailored to reflect the current state of medical practice.

The law as it stands does not reflect the fact that medicine now makes it possible to sustain extremely unwell people. It also does not acknowledge that people in that state may suffer acutely from their condition and prolonging that existence may not be what the patient wants.

No doubt people who oppose assisted suicide will point to Prof. Stephen Hawking and his achievements as evidence that assisted suicide should continue to be illegal. There is no doubt that he has achieved some incredible things. However, this has been done by choice. Hawking made the choice to immerse himself in physics. Others may not want to do the same and why should they be forced into it? Free choice is valued highly in this country. People are allowed to choose who they are governed by, which religion to follow and are left largely alone in their personal lives (health and safety aside). Why should they not be allowed choice in death? Why should the opinions of some trump the opinions of others? For those that believe assisted suicide is immoral, feel free not to do it but it cannot be right to impose those views on all.

That said, I don't believe free reign is the way forward. Legal safeguards would be required. The report published suggests that assistance in committing suicide should be available to those with less than a year to live. Unfortunately, it is notoriously difficult to predict this  and estimates of life remaining amount to little  more than an educated guess on the part of the physicians. Also, there are likely to be many people with conditions that, in their opinion, make life unbearable before their final year.

There is no simple answer to this question. The emotive nature of the subject means that genuinely objective discussion will be almost impossible. It will be interesting to see how and when resolution is achieved.

JR

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all. I hope it brings happiness, success and prosperity to everyone out there.

My new year was spent by the fireside with my parents and a good malt. It was wonderful. Unfortunately my girlfriend couldn't be with us, that would have made it perfect.

Although my parents live just outside Edinburgh, I have never really seen the point of going to the street party. The idea of standing round in the cold, crushed up against strangers with the only sustenance being a hip flask (and even that being of dubious legality). Seeing the fireworks at the castle does appeal however there are numerous points near my parents house that the castle can be seen from; in fact that has been used in the past as a signalling system. Burning beacons were lit to indicate advancing enemy.

Hope everyone else had a good day and heads weren't too sore this morning.

JR 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you reading this. I hope everyone has a truly wonderful day however you are spending it.

JR

The Church

Last week the Church of England officially sanctioned civil partnership ceremonies on it's premises to take place upon approval from the general synod. I can't say this development surprises me although I'm not entirely sure it's a good one. A scholar of theology I'm not but to my knowledge, the Christian church teaches that homosexuality is a sin. It therefore follows in my mind that, by forcing the Church to bless civil partnerships, they are being forced to go against their teachings and subverting what they believe. By undermining what they believe is right then surely the meaning and gravity of the ceremony its self is being undermined. Hardly a foundation for a successful and long-lasting relationship.

All this sounds very homophobic. It's not intended to be. What people do behind closed doors is their business as far as I'm concerned. I have been however been thinking about similar issues for quite some time.

For a bit of background, I do not regard myself as religious. My girlfriend on the other hand is profoundly Christian. She is very clear on the fact that, were we to ever get married, she would want to do so in a church. Hypothetically, this could leave me in a bit of an awkward situation. A church its self I don't have a problem with. The ceremony will have to take place in a building and churches are usually fairly picturesque. It's the religious element that concerns me. I don't think I would be comfortable taking religious vows. As I say, I'm not religious however I respect the strength of belief those that have religion feel. It would therefore feel totally disingenuous to throw myself into a ceremony I didn't believe in. At worst, I think it would undermine the institution of marriage which I take very seriously. I would feel that swearing to something I didn't believe in would be a lie and I don't think starting out married life on the basis of a lie is the best way to start a life together.

The compromise solution would seem to be having the ceremony in a church but in my case, taking secular vows. It does seem to have the potential to get rather complicated. Which should take precedence; the individual or the institution?

JR

A Random Post

For some reason I have my best ideas for posts at random times, usually when I am engaged in something else and can't get to a computer. Occasionally ideas will float into my head that are a mixture of thought-provoking, interesting, absurd or funny. Naturally when I eventually get time to put pen to paper (or the electronic equivalent) the thought is gone; usually only to re-surface at some suitably inconvenient time. Does anyone else have this? If so (and you're one of the bloggers I follow) it doesn't show.

Not too much has happened since my last couple of posts. The girlfriend has now been away for almost two weeks. The anger and bargaining has subsided to be replaced with a constant feeling of something being missing. Kind of like going out without a watch on only magnified many, many, many hundreds of times. It probably doesn't help that literally everything I see reminds me of her; from the coffee maker she gave me to celebrate a relationship landmark which I see soon after I wake up to the photo of her I see just before I go to sleep. Cue sloppy music and montage!

A challenge has been occupying my new-found plentiful free time - well apart from going to the pub. I have a stack of books I've been wanting to read and have been working my way through those. Once I get my brain in gear, I will hopefully posting more up here.

I like writing. I enjoy interacting with words and using them to convey what I'm trying to (well most of the time!). I like the idea of doing more of it in other ways although it is only vanity that makes me think that it's in any way worth reading.

The big question is what to write. My flatmates are trying to get me to make a compilation of their favourite dishes with added sections on flourishes and tricks to make the food a bit special. That appeals but I'm very aware of the sheer number of cook-books around and my relative lack of skill in the area.

I have one or two ideas relating to espionage but as a lifelong Flemming devotee I genuinely don't believe I or anyone else could create something comparable. He once stated his desire to write the best spy stories ever written and, for my money, that's what he did. I am also not a fan of the, "gritty" way most spy dramas are played out these days. In my mind, outrageous flamboyance is still the best.

There is always the law as a subject. As it is a fairly closed world, people are generally interested and it is ripe for turning into stories. However I have only been part of that world for around four years. I don't think I know it well enough to start creating anything concrete.

One idea that I really fancy is doing research on a subject and writing about it. I genuinely love the process of research; finding stuff in books, trawling the internet, making connections in my mind between the sources and generally achieving a deep understanding of the subject. Everything apart from trying to remember the source of the fact that just popped into my head. The trouble is what to research. Two obvious choices would be Bond or St. John Ambulance. I doubt I could write anything about Bond that hasn't been already written and any attempt seems futile. St. John could be a potential winner. The stumbling blocks there include the time to actually do the research, finding hard-copy sources and getting access to electronic ones. Many on-line databases charge quite a lot for access.

I will ponder the possibilities over the next wee while and see what, if any, ideas begin to develop.

In the mean time I am carrying a note book to record the good ideas I have for here for further development.

JR

The Station

The Station is the first novel by Stuart Gray, a London Ambulance Service paramedic and author of the blog Paramedic's diary (www.theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com) as well as several books on the Ambulance service.

The book follows the events occurring over the course of a shift in central London. Challenges range from the mundane to the extreme and many are evidently drawn from the author's experience.

The plot, rather than following one or two central characters, offers snippets of commentary on the lives of many ambulance service personnel and patients. Although this can, at times, make it a bit difficult to keep track of who's who and their relation to others in the story; I think it accurately reflects the experience of those that work in front-line emergency services and the fleeting interactions they have with those they help. I also liked the fact that plots were rarely taken to their full conclusion again reflecting the experience of ambulance service personnel who rarely get to find out what happened to their patient.

Stuart writes well on his blog, in his non-fiction works and now in this novel. He is a naturally gifted story teller who can relate just the right level of detail to keep the reader's interest without them becoming bogged-down. The tone of the book is, in my opinion, perfect. Gray explains complex jargon and ambulance slang clearly and without being over simplistic, much in the way I would imagine one does to a new member of the service. The result is that he draws the reader into his world and makes them feel part of it. To complete the experience, Gray clearly and articulately describes the complex feelings generated by haaving to witness some of the best and some of the worst things humanity has to offer.

I have recommended this book to friends and family. I would not hesitate to do so for anyone reading this post whether you want an insight of life in the emergency services or simply a damn good read.

JR