Sometimes something as simple as a stuffed animal can ease the pain and suffering a lot more for a longer period than medication.
I'm not questioning the effectiveness of modern medicine by any means, and myself would rather donate for active treatments but a child with a teddy bear to hug/hold/squeeze will likely feel a tiny bit better than one with nothing when faced with pain, or loneliness for that matter.
Edit: I don't really have any evidence to back up my first statement other than a few anecdotes and personal experiences.
If we are able to get satellites into a low-level orbit, with the technology to connect those on the ground - surely a bigger risk is space debris and the possibility of colliding with other objects in space? From what I understand most, if not all space agencies do spend a fair bit of resources tracking and projecting the trajectories of all objects in space - and constantly altering the paths of those under their control to avoid such items? ... not saying it isn't impossible - but surely that's another challenge to take into account?
I will add to this - I worked for a company last year where the majority of projects were outsourced to a team setup in
Egypt, and I spent more time debugging their work than it would've taken me to do it myself.
Not to mention how off the spec most of their work was and our clients were always left dissatisfied. I think that's part of the reason I left within a few months.
Remote working is amazing provided you can get a solid, self motivated person or team who are on the same wave length as you - but it's incredibly tough.
Definitely a harsh ruling against her - but considering the legal system I doubt she'll spend any time in a prison cell.
Then there's a very touchy matter of wether you really want kids being brought up by a mother who clearly turns a blind eye to rioting / looting, and indirectly even partakes in criminal activity (knowingly handling stolen goods).
It's only recently in the UK that the law now favours the right to defend yourself and your property; before there was a perception of criminals having more rights having broken into your home than you ever did.
There's rioting for the sake of a rebellion, hopefully leading to a revolution. Then there's rioting for the sake of looting and causing damage, nothing more.
I wouldn't feel for those having justice dealt to them, not one bit. They not only participated in the riots - but made an effort to promote them.
As for the woman who accepted stolen goods from her flatmate - she deserved it. The right course of action would've been to advise her flatmate to turn herself in and return the goods, or actually call the police herself. She decides to go through the stolen goods, picking what she wants and wearing it.
As far as community work / fines - there's been a few articles on various newspapers by community workers and enforcers who plainly state that it has little to no impact. Dig a little deeper, and you'll find prisons in the UK happen to be quite nice; offering lot better facilities than many hostels. Plus, having spoken to a lot of officers, many state that if you don't clamp down on people when they break minor laws / rules - soon the boundaries shift and before they know it; they've become criminals.
Having witnessed first hand the devastation and destruction in Hackney - most small business owners who lost pretty much their whole lively hoods would state that the sentences being handed out aren't enough - and I whole heartedly agree. What still irks me is that nearly two-thirds of my hard earned money is being taken by the government in taxes, and is feeding these people in a prison cell; likely where they have access to a TV with Sky, a PlayStation, 3 good meals a day, clean bedsheets and clothes etc etc.
I'm not questioning the effectiveness of modern medicine by any means, and myself would rather donate for active treatments but a child with a teddy bear to hug/hold/squeeze will likely feel a tiny bit better than one with nothing when faced with pain, or loneliness for that matter.
Edit: I don't really have any evidence to back up my first statement other than a few anecdotes and personal experiences.