making judgement calls

ifitweremyhome.com compares living in different countries. things are hardly as simple as they seem but its a fun tool anyway. adding gender-factors would make it more interesting too.

i compared finland to turkey. it didnt actually surprise me much except...for the health care. we pay for it in taxes and other indirect ways i suppose, so to imagine that finns spend SO much more money didnt sound sensible right away. but i guess it is. and in the end, finnish people ARE healthier, live longer and when in need, get better health care in general. so fair enough, i think. in turkey u can actually get awesome health care - if u got money or a good insurance from your workplace.
















the UK has a plan to cut sentences in half if the accused pleas guilty immediately, as an example they mention rapists. im not pleased. rapists have a higher % of repeating their crimes than many other types of criminals...so letting them out earlier is okay why? oh yes, the idea is to save money on prosecution costs, police work and save the victim from the traumatic trial process. i agree those are all good points, but i think this is the wrong way! i think for those who are found guilty but didn't admit to it at first chance, the sentence should perhaps be doubled? there is still an incentive of getting 50% less jail time, but its not as fuckin offensive to the victims of the crimes, nor as illogical in not punishing properly for the crime. on a sidenote, UK courts apparently typically give 5 yrs for rape, which is much more than in finland. thats commandable. not that i think ANY punishment would be justified, like a life sentence. but in finland i think they are giving out 1 yr sentences for rape or something. and of course u get out earlier if u behave well etc...

in fact i just talked to Sebastian who works in a prison and he told me that a "young" offender will typically end up serving 1/3 of his time, and a first timer half of the sentence. there can be conditions preventing those, but usually speaking.

its hard to say what exactly IS a justified sentence for a rape. unlikely (i think) most feminists i dont support a crazy-ass 10 yr sentence for every situation and occasion. as i have been saying before, i DON'T think all rapes are equal. cos some are worse. beating up someone in an alley and tying them up for 5 hours is not the same as raping someone whose too drunk (without additional violence). not cos the latter is her fault, obviously, but regardless of the crime i give "extra points" for additional violence and torture and humiliation and so on. all kinds of factors should count. so a classic (i think it happens a LOT, unfortunately) rape of a half-passed-out drunken girl is a starting point. i admit i dont know how many years it oughta give someone. from there on, when we add stuff like other types of violence, sedating her with a drug, and so...we can add some years i think. but in finland i think the sentences are not hard enough. for many crimes, actually.

i recall reading about a canadian experiment, where they had inmates live and work in a more "normative" surrounding, rather than jail. but i think they served pretty much the time they were supposed to. or less. either way, the result was they were LESS likely to repeat their offense. it makes sense actually... but humans seem to have seome kind of a need for revenge. and a natural survival instinct to get rid of those that propose a threat.

official jenni signs off. back to watching CSI. tomorrow is a national holiday.