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| Peaches Geldof deserves no censure. Save that for her critics | Peaches Geldof deserves no censure. Save that for her critics |
| (3 days later) | |
| Shame on those who denigrated Peaches Geldof in the wake of the recent revelations about her fatal heroin overdose: how she was found, with a "sweetie box" with a syringe in, with her baby alone in the house with her, and other squalid details. Peaches's grieving sister, Fifi, had to battle with internet trolls, as if the Geldof family hasn't already suffered enough. Piers Morgan tweeted, in sympathy for Peaches, about any "blame" coming down to Peaches's mother, Paula Yates, who also fatally overdosed in 2000. | Shame on those who denigrated Peaches Geldof in the wake of the recent revelations about her fatal heroin overdose: how she was found, with a "sweetie box" with a syringe in, with her baby alone in the house with her, and other squalid details. Peaches's grieving sister, Fifi, had to battle with internet trolls, as if the Geldof family hasn't already suffered enough. Piers Morgan tweeted, in sympathy for Peaches, about any "blame" coming down to Peaches's mother, Paula Yates, who also fatally overdosed in 2000. |
| It's farcical to hawk around this notion of tragic destinies handed down from generation to generation. Heroin users do not necessarily beget heroin addicts; Paula Yates had four daughters, not one, and Peaches was a real human being, not "the bad girl who dies first" in some cliched horror movie. | |
| There's also scant widespread evidence of the "poor sainted Peaches – our fallen angel" outpourings many British people have been criticised for. The majority of people seem perfectly able to feel sorry about Peaches without descending into a state of mawkish, artificial hysteria. | There's also scant widespread evidence of the "poor sainted Peaches – our fallen angel" outpourings many British people have been criticised for. The majority of people seem perfectly able to feel sorry about Peaches without descending into a state of mawkish, artificial hysteria. |
| Even more spurious is this notion that there would be precious little empathy flying around if Peaches had been some random junkie mother on a council estate. Well, speak for yourself. This stance appears to be a projection by people who feel that empathy can only ever be a zero sum and are either too heartless or unimaginative to imagine a world where there is plenty for all. For obvious reasons, Peaches's death received a lot of coverage, but, I, for one, would always feel sad to hear of a young mother dying in this way. | Even more spurious is this notion that there would be precious little empathy flying around if Peaches had been some random junkie mother on a council estate. Well, speak for yourself. This stance appears to be a projection by people who feel that empathy can only ever be a zero sum and are either too heartless or unimaginative to imagine a world where there is plenty for all. For obvious reasons, Peaches's death received a lot of coverage, but, I, for one, would always feel sad to hear of a young mother dying in this way. |
| As for the drugs found in the "sweetie box" – if, as it now seems, Peaches was a heroin addict, then this is how addicts behave. Addicts are not generally known for their stellar common sense and great decision-making. They tend to behave bizarrely and do stupid, ill-considered things, such as, for instance, hiding drugs in sweet boxes. With the addict's skewed mindset, it would make perfect sense for Peaches to hide her stash in this unlikely receptacle, just as, say, an alcoholic might hide bottles of alcohol in a laundry basket or a toy box. The addict's rationale would be: "Well, no one would think to look there." | As for the drugs found in the "sweetie box" – if, as it now seems, Peaches was a heroin addict, then this is how addicts behave. Addicts are not generally known for their stellar common sense and great decision-making. They tend to behave bizarrely and do stupid, ill-considered things, such as, for instance, hiding drugs in sweet boxes. With the addict's skewed mindset, it would make perfect sense for Peaches to hide her stash in this unlikely receptacle, just as, say, an alcoholic might hide bottles of alcohol in a laundry basket or a toy box. The addict's rationale would be: "Well, no one would think to look there." |
| All of which is sad and horrible, but it says very little about Peaches's essential morality or indeed immorality. All it says is that this poor soul was ill and her sense of judgment had become distorted. The same is true of the fact that her baby was alone in the house with her when she died. I'd wager that, given the option when alive, Peaches would have begged on bended knees for any other ending, anything at all, rather than leave her child with that excruciating legacy. | All of which is sad and horrible, but it says very little about Peaches's essential morality or indeed immorality. All it says is that this poor soul was ill and her sense of judgment had become distorted. The same is true of the fact that her baby was alone in the house with her when she died. I'd wager that, given the option when alive, Peaches would have begged on bended knees for any other ending, anything at all, rather than leave her child with that excruciating legacy. |
| People would do well to remember that this was an accidental death, not a planned one, and this is the sole reason her child was alone in the house with her. | People would do well to remember that this was an accidental death, not a planned one, and this is the sole reason her child was alone in the house with her. |
| I'm much less disgusted by anything Peaches did (she was sick after all) than I am by the torrent of self-righteous bile since these latest sorry details emerged. What is clear is that her death has become catnip for judgmental, vindictive rubberneckers, who seem to think an accidental drug overdose says everything there is to say about a person, when it doesn't. | I'm much less disgusted by anything Peaches did (she was sick after all) than I am by the torrent of self-righteous bile since these latest sorry details emerged. What is clear is that her death has become catnip for judgmental, vindictive rubberneckers, who seem to think an accidental drug overdose says everything there is to say about a person, when it doesn't. |
| The same people decided they had every right to go on the attack, spraying around censure, spite and sanctimony even as a pale, drawn young man was screwing up his courage to give evidence at an inquest into the early death of the mother of his children. | The same people decided they had every right to go on the attack, spraying around censure, spite and sanctimony even as a pale, drawn young man was screwing up his courage to give evidence at an inquest into the early death of the mother of his children. |
| If there is any shame or blame to be handed out concerning Peaches Geldof right now, I know where I would be directing it. | If there is any shame or blame to be handed out concerning Peaches Geldof right now, I know where I would be directing it. |
| Admit it, you're gagging for 50 Shades film too | Admit it, you're gagging for 50 Shades film too |
| We must all be grateful for the free giggles courtesy of the Fifty Shades of Grey film trailer. | We must all be grateful for the free giggles courtesy of the Fifty Shades of Grey film trailer. |
| There have been complaints about how the trailer cultivates rape culture, but it's probably more a case of "Is this seriously as naughty as you can imagine?" culture. | There have been complaints about how the trailer cultivates rape culture, but it's probably more a case of "Is this seriously as naughty as you can imagine?" culture. |
| Some geezer in a suit being a tad bossy? If that's really your thing, then you can get it by working in your local call centre. | Some geezer in a suit being a tad bossy? If that's really your thing, then you can get it by working in your local call centre. |
| As for the trailer, fans of Jamie Dornan's disturbingly sexy serial killer in The Fall may be alarmed to see him resembling somebody who would have tried to sell you a dodgy mortgage endowment policy in 1998. | As for the trailer, fans of Jamie Dornan's disturbingly sexy serial killer in The Fall may be alarmed to see him resembling somebody who would have tried to sell you a dodgy mortgage endowment policy in 1998. |
| What have they done to this male beauty? His hair has come down with a serious case of the Douglas Hurds. | What have they done to this male beauty? His hair has come down with a serious case of the Douglas Hurds. |
| That said, I enjoyed all the cobblers involving helicopters, skyscrapers, massive shiny offices, and all the other not so subtle nuances about sexy capitalism. | That said, I enjoyed all the cobblers involving helicopters, skyscrapers, massive shiny offices, and all the other not so subtle nuances about sexy capitalism. |
| And this is just the trailer. How is the film going to top it – Dornan naked save for nipple clamps and 1980s red braces, drawling: "Greed is good, Anastasia… aargh, that smarts!" Complete codswallop. I can't wait. | And this is just the trailer. How is the film going to top it – Dornan naked save for nipple clamps and 1980s red braces, drawling: "Greed is good, Anastasia… aargh, that smarts!" Complete codswallop. I can't wait. |
| A degree of hardship for poor kids | A degree of hardship for poor kids |
| It seems that poorer disadvantaged students have been applying to university in "record" numbers – up 1.3 percentage points from last year – which some have hailed as a vindication of the tuition fee increases. What baloney. | It seems that poorer disadvantaged students have been applying to university in "record" numbers – up 1.3 percentage points from last year – which some have hailed as a vindication of the tuition fee increases. What baloney. |
| It's good that these students have not been put off by the fees hike, but that's all credit to them, not the ridiculously unfair system they are forced to navigate. Not only do such candidates remain far outnumbered by their middle-class counterparts, there have been reports about how the university funding system is in absurd disarray. | It's good that these students have not been put off by the fees hike, but that's all credit to them, not the ridiculously unfair system they are forced to navigate. Not only do such candidates remain far outnumbered by their middle-class counterparts, there have been reports about how the university funding system is in absurd disarray. |
| Why are all these young people applying to university in droves anyway? Of course, many just want to, and good luck to them. However, for others, it could be a case of what else are they supposed to do? Low-paid unskilled work for ever more, or an unpaid internship, which most could not afford to do without strong parental financial support? In such circumstances, university, even with the burden of enormous fees, could look like the best option | Why are all these young people applying to university in droves anyway? Of course, many just want to, and good luck to them. However, for others, it could be a case of what else are they supposed to do? Low-paid unskilled work for ever more, or an unpaid internship, which most could not afford to do without strong parental financial support? In such circumstances, university, even with the burden of enormous fees, could look like the best option |
| Ironically, it's now middle-class students, with the safety net of long-term financial support from their parents, who can afford to go straight into work, and "wing it", avoiding university fees altogether if they wish. By contrast, disadvantaged young people are between the proverbial rock and hard place – they can't really afford to go to university, but they can't afford not to go either. | Ironically, it's now middle-class students, with the safety net of long-term financial support from their parents, who can afford to go straight into work, and "wing it", avoiding university fees altogether if they wish. By contrast, disadvantaged young people are between the proverbial rock and hard place – they can't really afford to go to university, but they can't afford not to go either. |
| It's easy to imagine some of these young people sitting hard times out in university, almost as a kind of civic sanctuary, hoping that things will have improved by the time they emerge. They are the nervy, watchful "wait and see" academic generation – and putting them in that stressful, insecure position is nothing for this government to crow about. | It's easy to imagine some of these young people sitting hard times out in university, almost as a kind of civic sanctuary, hoping that things will have improved by the time they emerge. They are the nervy, watchful "wait and see" academic generation – and putting them in that stressful, insecure position is nothing for this government to crow about. |
| • Comments will be opened later today | • Comments will be opened later today |
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