I haven't really written about local news for a while, in fact, I haven't really written anything of much substance recently - I'm getting closer to the level of journal with quizzes and random forwarding of images. I thought I'd refresh on 'the youth of today'.

Over the last few weeks there seems to have been an increase in the local press about the level of violence and anti-social behaviour being displayed by the under-21s in the town. According to the Weston Mercury, 'the latest figures released by North Somerset Council show 21 per cent of violent crime in the district is committed by 10-16-year-olds and mostly in the early evening' (source).

Recent reports included a minor being caught on CCTV footage beating the living hell out of a shop assistant, alcohol-fueled vandalism, and the sort of mindless behaviour that makes you wonder what the hell is going on.

In a recent article, one trader from the Mead Vale area stated "Parents need to take responsibility. I've seen mums dole out alcohol and cigarettes to their kids as young as 12. The parents just chuck them out of the house and let them roam all night if they want. When a policeman does come along the kids laugh at them because they know nothing will happen. But most of the time our calls are ignored. Sometimes I feel like going down to the station and dragging an officer up here myself."

This has long been one of the issues I've stated here. Sometimes, parents can not be bothered with the responsibility given to them after 'went forth and multiplied', or else it is a case of not being capable. It's the same for exposure to things on TV or the Internet, or for content of video games, if the parents actually gave a damn, they'd be keeping an eye at the time, not complaining about the after effects.

There are, of course, parents who do a damn hard battle with their children to try to tackle the behaviour, but the fight is tough, and when you factor in peer pressure and the issue of the uncaring parents, it is no wonder they can't succeed.

Yes, there should be more of a police presence, but it's a losing battle when the minors are being sent out by parents who just don't care enough, and don't even have any kind of pride. One has to sympathis with the police sometimes, when they are begged for help by the public and schools, but the family of the culprits aren't going to stop the children.

A recent investment may help curb some of the problems, but I doubt it, the problem will just shift.

Mosquito to bite against crime

A NEW anti-youth gadget which emits a noise that can only be heard by young people and a police helicopter spotlight are the two latest weapons being used in a crackdown on troublemakers in Weston and Worle.

Last week, the Weston Mercury exposed simmering summer youth problems in hotspots across the resort. This week, we can reveal that a hi-tech gadget, called the Mosquito, will be used for the first time in North Somerset when it is installed in Worle.

The new gizmo, to be set up outside Hayers in the Mead Vale Shopping Precinct, fires a high pitched sound for up to 20 metres in a 60° arc.

It can only be heard by people aged under 25, who are sensitive to the frequency of the noise emitted, and is aimed to break up gangs and move them on.

North Somerset Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (NSCDRP) has bought the kit. If found to be useful, it will recommend householders and businesses get their own Mosquitoes, which cost about £600.
Police in Weston are also using a helicopter to shine a bright light on youngsters drinking in parks to stop them gathering. The helicopter's halogen spotlight beam temporarily blinds people caught in its path.

Sgt Gareth Starr said: "It helps us find youths who hide when we patrol and also finds where they are gathering so we can respond to it. The spotlight will be used to move them on as they don't like the light shining in their faces."

Police arrested six people and seized alcohol in Clarence Park, Grove Park and the town centre last weekend after several Weston beat officers joined forces and patrolled in an 'antisocial' van.

Children as young as 13 were caught drinking and 17 cans of lager, four bottles of alcopops and a large bottle of vodka were seized on Friday night.

Arrests were made for possession of a knife, carrying cannabis and drunk and disorderly behaviour.


• INTIMIDATING gangs of youngsters will be moved on from the Italian Gardens and adjacent Town Square by police from today (Fri).
  
  Officers have got stronger powers to deal with troublemakers in the area now it has become a 'dispersal zone'.
  
  Offenders will be asked to leave for 24 hours and removed if they refuse. Persistent troublemakers could be fined up to £3,000 or face three months in jail. The order will last until October, but could be shortened or extended.
  
  There are also plans to 'design out' problems by doing things like installing bumpy pavement and adding ends to benches to stop skateboarders using them.
  Police antisocial behaviour officer Terry Crees said: "If groups gather there with the purpose of intimidating or causing a disturbance, they, and anyone who mixes with them, will be asked to move on. If people are there and are behaving themselves, that's fine."
  
  (Source: Weston Mercury, 21 July 2006)

I'd first heard about the Mosquito Teenager Repellant in last year, at the time it was being referred to on BBCs Have I Got News For You and The News Quiz, pointing out how the tables had turned and now adults would be able to annoy teenagers with persistent high-pitched whining, instead of the other way round.

The device was invented by a Welshman, Howard Stapleton, is a security consultant with experience in installing alarms for business and studied other teenage-repellents as part of his research into loitering problems before hitting on the device which emits a high-frequency sound designed to annoy people younger than 20, but which apparently people older than 30 can't hear it. Stapleton tested on his children, trying a number of different noise and frequency levels, testing a single-toned unit before settling on a pulsating tone which, he said, is more unbearable, and can be broadcast within government auditory-safety limits at 75 decibels.

As alternatives go, some shops use "zit lamps," which drive teenagers away by casting a blue light onto their spotty skin, accentuating any whiteheads and other blemishes. Interestingly, the same technology is used in a lot of public toilets, because the harshness of he lights is said to affect eyesight and reduce loitering and 'cottaging' in those areas - I can confirm that when you are desperate for a piss at a train station, and the blue light is on, it really affects your ability to even walk straight because of it's harshness at times, and much worse after dark.

Personally, I'd like to see a reduced pocket-size sound unit, similar to Personal Attack Alarms, which can just be pulled from a pocket and activated to disperse crowds.

The follow-on part of the article, covering the dispersment order of youths in the Italians Gardens, links up to an article in the previous weeks edition, taken from the Mercury's website:

Chavs and Goths face Gardens ban

YOUNG troublemakers could be banned from Weston's Italian Gardens following simmering gang squabbles and nuisance behaviour there.

The well-groomed park has become a battleground for adolescent groups dubbed Chavs and Goths and at times it becomes a no-go zone for everyone else when youngsters gather there.

The police are now applying for a dispersal order for the gardens during the evenings.

If senior police officers and North Somerset Council agree to the order, bobbies will be able to move on troublemakers.

Offenders will be banned from the park for 24 hours and anyone refusing to go could be arrested and prosecuted.

Town centre beat manager Sergeant Peter Land said: "We are at the point where we are going to create a dispersal zone for the Italian Gardens.

"The problem is mainly youths gathering on an evening and doing things that are a little short of criminal behaviour, but which puts off visitors. It is things like ripping up plants and throwing mud.

"The order would mean that between designated hours we can take hold of offenders and lead them out of the park. They could face prosecution if we keep getting problems.

(Source: Weston Mercury)

I would ask for you to refer to my entry, When Two Tribes Go To War..., from 09 September 2005. In it, there had been an article of the 'gang war' between the Chavs and Goths of Weston fighting near the sea front. Throughout the course of the year, the fights have continued and spread across the town. Irregardless of where the Goths move, the Chavs seem to track them down.

I still hold my sympathy with the Goths, as they are the more pleasant of the two tribes, and are by far the most passive group in the town - even the 'Sue The Bastards' street lawyers and charity collectors are more aggresive than the Goths.

I also still hold by my comments:

Of course, there is a slight twang of humour about a gang of Reebok-branded, Burberry-capped militia marching down the street with the battle anthem of the Crazy Frog churning out from their 'car boot sale' mobile phone, approaching a waiting gang of lace and saffron wearing, black-eyeline Goths with a standard bearer reading the works of Shelley or reciting their latest poem on the soul destroying ability of homework. It's a musical, it's Weston Seaside Story!

Except, now I see more of the a story developing, a true Romeo and Juliet screen play potential. Just imagine, Romeo the Chav, named after and with the same pronunciation as the Alfa Romeo, falls for Juliet the Goth, originally called Julia but changed for dramatic emphasis. All their friends say it wont work, their parents are against each other because one set lives on a housing estate and fraudulently claims benefits whereas the other is a business banker, neither of them go to church so they don't even have a priest to confide in. They'll get split up when his ASBO stops him enterring the town, but he'll break it one night and find she's passed out from forgetting to exhale clove cigarrettes, and he'll end up getting plastered on White Lightning.

Unfortunately, they'll both survive, move in to a council house after she gets pregnant at 15, have a child - which due to chav tradition they'll have to name after alcohol or a car, so they'll reach a goth/chav compromise and name Absinthe - and claim benefit when he can't be bothered to go back to working on 'motors' and she realises just how little GCSE Art is worth.

Hmm, when a Goth and a Chav mate, is the result a Choth (pr. Choff) or a Chath (pr. Chafe)? Please let it be sterile, like with mules.

"Two households, both alike, indignity.
In Weston-sup'-Mare where we lay our scene.
Where fashion drudge breaks to new thuggery,
Where vomit and blood makes civil streets unclean..."

Save Tonight by Eagle-Eye Cherry, haven't heard that in a while.

Anyway, a technologically-based toast to the Japanese...

Premature ageing device that puts old wine in new bottles

FOR those who yearn for a well-aged, full-bodied vintage wine but lack the funds to feed the habit, the solution may lie with a Japanese boffin, a zany-looking contraption, a couple of metres of latex tubing and a few hundred volts of electricity.

Squirrelled away in his chemical engineering laboratory in rural Shizuoka, Hiroshi Tanaka has spent 15 years developing an electrolysis device that simulates, he claims, the effect of ageing in wines. In 15 seconds it can transform the cheapest, youngest plonks into fine old draughts as fruit flavours are enhanced and rough edges are mellowed, he says.

Reds can become more complex, and whites drier. A wine costing £5 a bottle could taste the same as one costing twice that, which “will create huge changes to the global wine industry”.

It may sound far-fetched, but the ultra-competitive wine industry is taking no chances.Wineries in California, South America and other parts of the new and old wine worlds are taking a close interest in Mr Tanaka’s machine, and several are already testing it. The machine works by pumping wine and tap water through a specially designed electrolysis chamber equipped with wafer-thin platinum electrodes. The water and the wine are separated by an ion exchange membrane — the key component, for which Tanaka holds the patent.

Without diluting the wine, the electrolysis causes a rapid rearrangement of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms around the alcohol molecules, which would normally take place over years if the wine were ageing naturally.

Sommeliers at the boutique Engelhardt winery describe its effects as “interesting”. A Chilean producer will arrive in Japan next week with 12 gallons of its finest red for further testing.

As the device approaches commercial readiness in January, the Robert Mondavi winery has asked to be kept updated on the results of trials. Because the electrolyser is capable of converting about four litres of wine a minute, some producers are considering ageing entire barrels before the wine is bottled.

Mr Tanaka and his team at Innovative Design and Technology (IDT) are also designing a version for small-scale use. He said: “There are several ways that this machine could go into service, of which improving the quality of wine at source is only one. We are going to make a version of the machine that can be used in restaurants to instantly improve the taste and bouquet of cheaper table wines according to what the customer has chosen.”

“We also think that individual wine lovers will want to have one at home so they can play about with the tastes and apparent ages of the more expensive wines they own and make them ready to drink sooner."

Although Mr Tanaka may be on the verge of a crucial contribution to the history of wine, he confesses that he does not really like the stuff. He began his work on fruit juices and switched to alcoholic beverages only to soften the after-taste of a particularly rough type of saké he drinks.

He is convinced that the machine could have enhancing effects on cheap whiskies and has already struck a deal with Pokka, the Japanese coffee giant, to work with it on smoothing the taste of some roasts.

Robert Mondavi Private Selection Pinot Noir 2002 (USA)
Cost About £8 a bottle
Before electrolysis Crisp, fruity, lots of berry, silky, alcoholic nose, light body
Marks 2/5
After electrolysis More subtle, more musty, lost its crisp, fresh fruitiness but far easier on the palate, heavier but less exciting
Marks 3/5

Le Haut-Medoc de Giscours Grande Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 Haut Medoc (France)
Cost About £9 a bottle
Before electrolysis A bit rough and acidic, muscular tannins and non-distinct bouquet
Marks 1/5
After electrolysis More of a nose, more tobacco and fruit, a riper flavour, smoother finish
Marks 2.5/5

On the Times panel in Tokyo: two trained winetasters and one enthusiastic amateur

(Source : The Times (London), 10 October 2005)

I'm not much of a wine drinker, unlike a few people I know who choose it as one of their preferred tipple - in fact I'm not much of a drinker at all - however, I'm sure of one thing in that I can't really tell that much difference between a £5 bottle of wine to a £10 bottle of wine, if it managed to change home brew or boxed wine into a £10 bottle of wine that would be different.

The concept of aging wine by artificial methods has it's distressing side to me when I think of the future of Tesco Value 'Vintage' Wine being drunk by chavs by the gallon and it gets accepted mainstream, however, a part of me is joyous that it may actually make people who collect old wines for purposes other than drinking think "I've wasted my life".

I'm quite interested by the line 'reds can become more complex, and whites drier'; do the reds start complaining that no-one really understands them and write angsty emo poetry, while the whites start providing observational retorts and have scathing sarcastic comments posted in The Telegraph letters?

The concept of 'a version of the machine that can be used in restaurants to instantly improve the taste and bouquet of cheaper table wines according to what the customer has chosen' has some distinct advantages if it makes house wine get rid of the warm cat piss taste, but I wonder if they'll charge by a top-up from years, an extra few pounds for each added year.

Le Snob de Grande Arsse 2001 (Wines R Us, Bridgwater)
Cost About £4 a bottle
Before electrolysis A bit rough and acidic; tastes like warm cat piss; smells of cork, vinegar and rotting grapes
Marks 'Bio-hazard' and '2 for price of 1' labels/5
After electrolysis Like moist sand-paper; tastes like cat piss and licking batteries; smells of burnt cork and malt vinegar; provides hair styling like a Van De Graff generator
Marks 0.02/5

Still, it could be nicer that swallowing five germans.