You've got to laugh, or not - as the case may be

Bumped into my good friend Laurence Demarco the other week - haven't seen him in a very long time but it was good to chat. He sent me a copy of his recently published book entitled,'You've got to Laugh' which is a selection of anecdotes from Laurence's (very full) life. Laurence is the complete anti- dirigiste and I've always liked his rascal rebel character. When you don't see someone for a while you can forget why you ever became friends: reading his book brought it all back.
In the afternoon I hosted a meeting with Corinthian Yacht Club and Forth Ports. That was interesting too. All four men at the meeting were keen sailors with a love of the sea and all things nautical. I'm no good with water. Every time I go on a boat I'm sick. Lots of people love it, though. Corinthians are concerned about their long term viability if they can't agree winter storage for their yachts. Forth Ports are currently preparing new plans for the middle pier which (unlike the current plans) will contain a community boatyard with winter storage - and of course, all 3 boat clubs in the immediate area (Corinthians, RF and Port O' Leith) have competing interests for the same space. Forth Ports plainly want to find a positive solution that suits everybody and it seems to me as a neutral observor that the 3 clubs are going to have to talk to together first to see if they can agree on a way forward then engage in joint discussions with FPA.
We edge closer to May and the elections and I was obviously interested in the story about prisoners winning the right to vote. Opinions among friends are divided with the majority view being cynical about human rights legislation that equalises rights for people who quite frequently have shown little or no regard for anybody else's rights to dignity, respect (or in some cases) to life itself. Playing Devil's advocate I point out that not respecting the prisoners' rights presumably makes the State as bad as them. 'Wake up,' they say. 'Try telling that to your constituents. Victims have rights too. Don't make me laugh!' The trouble is, as I look around...it's difficult to disagree.