I've complained many times about how screwed up the British justice system, and here's something that truly exemplifies the problem. 33-year-old Karen Matthews made British headlines when she had her own daughter kidnapped to claim the reward money. Now serving time in prison, she's been rewarded for good behavior with -- of all things -- a PlayStation 3.
A PS3. Something that non-criminals have to pay a lot of money for has been given to a woman who kidnapped her own daughter for free. If she had not, in fact, been such a bitch of a mother, she would not own a PS3 right now.
I do hate to sound like a British tabloid, but in this instance, I agree that it's absurd and criminals are getting too easy a time. Prison is supposed to be a punishment, not a daycare center, and during this current economic climate, do we really need the government to be buying £300 entertainment systems for people ordinarily too poor and stupid to afford them?
"She is extremely unpopular with other cons and is kept apart from them," says a prison source. "There is an obvious fear that she will be a target for other criminals who want to get her back for what she did to her little girl."
If anybody has any children they don't need, let me know. I could do with a brand new PS3.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
6:20 PM on 12.16.2008
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I have. And I can tell you, they could've set me up with a ps3, wii, and a 360, and it wouldn't have made it any less of a hellish nightmare.
I joke, I joke
This though is also a joke, unless they threw it at her which would probably kill her outright.
That explains so much.
Sounds about right. I say throw her in with them, then we will see if she regrets what she did. You should get what you deserve when you do something that other inmates think is vile. INMATES!
There nothing wrong with "poor" people because they are people that cant find a job but are hard workers. I know i probably took that statement out of context but it still bothers me. when did poor equal stupid.
The point, you're missing it. Prison is supposed to be a "hellish nightmare". It's not supposed to be time out, or a babysitter, or Six Flags. It's supposed to be a punishment, in accordance of something bad that the perpetrator did, and you shouldn't be receiving anything that would make your stay a positive experience other than books and food that keeps you in decent condition.
...
Fuck me.
The problem here is that you don't seem to understand cause and effect. You say this: "Not having to watch my back due to threats of death is a better deal." You get that deal because you didn't do anything deserving of going to jail. She did, so she went to jail. Jail's not like some random lottery, where this woman just got sent to after they drew her name out of a hat. The fact that the inmates want her dead is a result of the fact that she manipulated her daughter for her own monetary gain.
Have you ever heard of Anthony Stockelman? He was arrested for the rape and murder of a 10 year old girl. Guess what happened when he got to prison? He got fucking beaten within inches of his life. Do I feel bad for Mr. Stockelman? No, not in the least. That's because he got what he deserved. That is what should happen to our Karen Matthews (not that she should be beaten to near-death, that she should get what she deserves), and she does not deserve a PlayStation 3, which, like I said previously, many innocent little children in Britain go without.
The rodeo is in Angola, Louisiana; not Texas. Also, the (optional) rodeo generates money for the prison as opposed to squandering it. The inmates who participate in the rodeo do so of their own volition, whereas the tax payers have no say in whether the money that paid to the government should be spent to buy criminals luxuries they would otherwise not have. Just because you don't care about where your tax money goes, doesn't mean that others have the same cavalier attitude toward government waste.
Step 2: Get caught
Step 3: Don't shank anyone
Step 4: Profit!
And how the fuck is there an argument going on over this?
I have something that might help this situation: MANDATORY GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED STERILIZATION! Pass a series of psychological, financial, and logical test and maybe you can squirt out a screaming fetus. If you fail, then you go to the Soylent Green factory and squirt out meals for the criminals playing their PSTriples.
Oh, and one of my favorite quotes from Bioshock: "Until Adam, you could no more domesticate a child than a boa constrictor."
Eh nevermind.
Cunt.
>:(
I also like the fact she got a DVD player too even though the PS3 IS a dvd player.
The point here that most of you are fixating on, is the PS3, your anger at her getting one seems to be the core at which you are basing your arguements on. The fact is, that if this woman wasn't given a PS3, it wouldn't be on this site. Regardless of whether the PS3 should or shouldn't have been given to her, it was deemed by the prison system to be an important facet of her rehabilitation. If it does then cool, but if it does, at least some of you can justify why she was able to play Fallout 3 before you could this christmas.
Of course, casting the PS3 aside, all of her actions up until now are serious and a clear example of the system over here in Britain failing someone through the course of their life. However, if you are going to make comments about the country as a whole based on one womans horrific lifestyle then you might want to turn your attention to most westernised countries as I assure you, there are people who do just as crazy things in life as a faked kidnapping....
New Labour have shown that doing the opposite does absolutely fuck all, so I'm all for trying that.
Man id rather have a snes than that shit ps3!
flame time
@Jim: Same goes for you, butterball.