Something very odd is going on with me.

Last Monday (the 5th of May) I was sitting in a meeting and I noticed that my right leg was feeling very warm.  Not the whole leg, just the “shin” part of the lower leg. I thought it might have been the heating in the place I was sitting, and thought no more about it.

Since then, the “warm” feeling has appeared several times a day, always in exactly the same spot. I’ve tried feeling the actual leg and it isn’t any different in temperature to any other place. I don’t think it is actually warm.

So I google the search term warm leg and I find this thread on some health forum. A lack of Vitamin B due to stress seems like it could be what is going on, especially as it began right in the middle of a very stressful meeting after a few stressful days. I’ll up my vitamin intake and see if that solves it.

I recently saw the Heath Ledger film “Candy” which is the story of two heroin junkies. I’m so glad I never did drugs myself after watching it. That kind of crazy I can do without. Heath was amazing in the film, a truly incredible performance. It’s an Aussie film so you might not have had a chance to catch it.

Speaking of Aussie Films, why do they have to be outright insane(Candy), downright depressing (Jindabyne), or involve Abba in some way? (Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Muriel’s Wedding). Can we not have a normal type of film? A standard “RomCom” as they call them these days? Maybe it is just me – maybe I don’t see enough Aussie film.

And this most recent Thursday (8th of May) I mourned the passing of the second series of Dexter. The final episode of the second season aired here in Australia and wow, it was a stunner. If you have not seen Dexter at all, may I recommend you do see it, as soon as you can. Michael C Hall is just incredible. So now Thursday is just another day of the week instead of Dexter Day.

I’ll be back later this week with some special pics for ya’all. ;) But for now, enjoy this clip of Michael C Hall which has been playing on Showcase for the last couple of months. I love this ad!

Here’s a moral dilemma for you but it requires a little imagination.

Let’s say that three weeks ago, you found a way to travel back in time.  Seriously. You were able to pick a date and go back to that date.

Over the years there have been many innocent people killed in many different ways, despite the arguments about history being accurate and events being denied etc. I guess one of the best examples would be Hitler – if you could be transported back in time to a room in which Hitler were fast asleep and you had a syringe full of something guaranteed to cause his instant death, what would you do? Would you kill him, or not?

And more importantly, how would those events change the world as we know it? Completely and utterly. It is almost impossible to consider the potential implications of deading Hitler well before he caused the events he did. How many lives would you save by taking that one life?

This one is difficult for me – I don’t know that I could give that injection, but on the other hand if I did not wouldn’t all those people who died haunt me forever? I think I would be morally obligated to do it.

What about Ted Bundy who killed so many young women?

The Columbine shooters?

The people who hijacked the planes on 9/11?

What would you do? What do you think? Is there a time when killing is justified?

Me personally I think the only time killing is justified is when you *know* for a fact it is going to save one or more other lives. On the other hand, I’m not keen on the state doing it. I’m not for the death penalty.

This is a tricky one, I’d like to hear what you think.

I just finished reading the second book in the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay and all I can say is.. WOW.

This is some amazing writing. I can’t even begin to describe it to you – all I can say is get the book and savor it for yourself. It is unlike anything I have ever read before. I don’t even know what “genre” one would place these books in. There’s a serial killer which would usually mean the crime fiction area.. but I have never read a crime fiction book that had me laughing out loud so regularly. Seriously laughing out loud.

The best part is that as far as I can see, the book only has one thing in common with season two of the TV show – Doakes is tailing Dexter. The book and the TV series do not collide and implode – they go their own way.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Dexter character and also the Dexter TV series, Dexter is a serial killer who only kills other serial killers. He has a “code” – a set of rules – that he follows when choosing a victim and one of those rules is that he must have actual proof that they are killing people.

But unlike our justice system, he does not follow the rules about how he collects that proof – he breaks into houses if necessary, he does what he needs to do in order to find out the truth to his satisfaction.

For me it raises a series of interesting moral questions that I’m asking myself – and I thought why just ask me, why not ask ya’all too? So every day this week I will be putting a question out there for thought and discussion.

The first question I have is –

What do you think about our justice system?

Here are my thoughts – I think that the justice system (both in Australia and from what I can see in the USA) is bloated, slow and unfair. I think that sentencing is too lenient. I think that unless we have decent mandatory minimum sentences you cannot expect the justice system to be a deterrent. I think that when you have such an abysmal juvenile justice system (where punishment tends to be a slap on the wrist even for unspeakable offences) you cannot expect the justice system to be a deterrent.

I think that judges do not take their responsibilities seriously. They are there to judge the offender for the crime they committed, not to lessen and minimise and try to make excuses for what they have done. They are NOT there to judge the victim – as often happens in rape cases.

As it stands now, kids who find themselves in the justice system early on in life find out that it is a game and they can play it without any real risk to their freedom. Until they are old enough to be sentenced as an Adult, they break the law as much as they want without being too concerned about the consequences. Then, when they are old enough to be sentenced as an adult, they are in the habit of breaking the law and usually not getting caught, so they just keep doing it.

I think you have to teach them the lessons early to avoid problems later. I think harsh sentencing when they are kids would be a better option – but the sentencing should be focused around providing them with role models and discipline and positives rather than negatives. Boot camp always seems to work fairly well but I would like to see some options that give kids a way to express their anger and frustration in other ways – what about art – drama – music camps? I think it is time to get creative in how we solve the problems instead of thinking locking people up is always the way to go.

If a kid has a teacher who believes in them, who inspires them, that can often be the ticket to getting themselves out of a bad situation. We need to provide those inspirational teachers to the kids who most need them.

What are your thoughts on the justice system?

The comments section is open, so let me know what you think! :)