Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Lap-Dancers And Furry Green Monster Bombs.
A businessman who caused a motorway pile-up and fled from the scene to a lap-dancing club instead of going to police to report the M25 collision, confessed to two dancers at the club instead.
While one of the young dancers distracted him, the other told her bosses, who called the police.
How the dancer 'distracted' the man is not known.
Interestingly, Peter Aldred, who is to be sentenced today for dangerous driving, is the same man who was arrested by armed response teams at Inverness Airport last year, after claiming a carrier bag he was in possession of contained a bomb.
The carrier bag was subsequently found to contain nothing more sinister than two green furry Loch Ness Monster souvenirs, which nobody found amusing, and Aldred was later jailed for two months.
Inverness Airport Monster Scare.
Jail For "Nessie Bomb" Smart-Ass.
See all recent posts.
While one of the young dancers distracted him, the other told her bosses, who called the police.
How the dancer 'distracted' the man is not known.
Interestingly, Peter Aldred, who is to be sentenced today for dangerous driving, is the same man who was arrested by armed response teams at Inverness Airport last year, after claiming a carrier bag he was in possession of contained a bomb.
The carrier bag was subsequently found to contain nothing more sinister than two green furry Loch Ness Monster souvenirs, which nobody found amusing, and Aldred was later jailed for two months.
Inverness Airport Monster Scare.
Jail For "Nessie Bomb" Smart-Ass.
See all recent posts.
Strike.
More than one million council workers are striking over pensions, closing schools, libraries and sports centres across the UK, say the trades unions.
In Scotland, Public Service Reform Minister Tom McCabe said he was "disappointed" by the action taken by workers over proposed changes to pension rights.
I'm sure he is - and I'm sure he will be again when the next action takes place.
See all recent posts.
In Scotland, Public Service Reform Minister Tom McCabe said he was "disappointed" by the action taken by workers over proposed changes to pension rights.
I'm sure he is - and I'm sure he will be again when the next action takes place.
See all recent posts.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Doggone!
Coastguards were called out to Brean Down in Somerset on Sunday night to search for a hapless greyhound which had chased a rabbit over a cliff.
They didn't find the poor mutt.
Owner David Staynings said: "In a split second he'd gone over the cliffs and quickly went out of sight. It was a horrible moment."
No word about the rabbit's fate, but it probably died laughing.
See all recent posts.
They didn't find the poor mutt.
Owner David Staynings said: "In a split second he'd gone over the cliffs and quickly went out of sight. It was a horrible moment."
No word about the rabbit's fate, but it probably died laughing.
See all recent posts.
I Wanna Stay, I Wanna So I Will.
He's discredited, covered from head to toe with the sludge of sleaze, up to his neck in the mire of an illegal war, now a civil war in Iraq, which is the only legacy he will leave behind despite his wish to be remembered for anything but that misadventure.
The National Health Service is in crisis, our elderly are neglected, poorly treated and marginalised, one in five children still lives in poverty, our freedoms and civil liberties have been eroded by him more than anyone before has dreamt of, and our taxes have never been higher.
He wants a new set of nuclear power stations, and a new set of nuclear missiles, complete with the submarines to make up the set, despite having no one to fire the missiles at.
He's a control freak, a manipulator and a chronic spinner, and if he's not an out and out liar he's constantly "economical" with the truth.
He's a man who is always right, and who, despite all advice and opinion from wiser heads, must get what he wants.
And Tony Blair wants to stay till the last gasp!
Despite the overwhelming desire of most everybody to see the back of him.
See all recent posts.
The National Health Service is in crisis, our elderly are neglected, poorly treated and marginalised, one in five children still lives in poverty, our freedoms and civil liberties have been eroded by him more than anyone before has dreamt of, and our taxes have never been higher.
He wants a new set of nuclear power stations, and a new set of nuclear missiles, complete with the submarines to make up the set, despite having no one to fire the missiles at.
He's a control freak, a manipulator and a chronic spinner, and if he's not an out and out liar he's constantly "economical" with the truth.
He's a man who is always right, and who, despite all advice and opinion from wiser heads, must get what he wants.
And Tony Blair wants to stay till the last gasp!
Despite the overwhelming desire of most everybody to see the back of him.
See all recent posts.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
No Smoking - Jack's Found An Easy Way To Justify His Salary.
“The single biggest contribution devolved government can make is to reduce the toll of preventable death caused by smoking,” said First Minister Jack McConnell about the ban on smoking in public places which came into effect in Scotland today.
What he means is that it was easier than doing anything important, stuff our pretendy wee parliament find are beyond their limited talents, like dealing with the serious issues in Scotland.
How about sorting out the failing health service, or dealing with the disgrace of this country that is child poverty, or the problems in schools? No... that's not so easy, and takes brains, which are in short supply in Holyrood.
But would improving these not be a bigger contribution than a nice easy smoking ban?
The toll of preventable deaths and illnesses will, in many instances, be transferred from adult smokers to their children at home, and I fear we may see one or two preventable deaths occurring when the usual holier-than-thou crew start telling smokers to "extinguish that nasty cigarette," only to get a six inch blade stuck in their ribs.
Because, of course, Jack has failed miserably at reducing the epidemic of knife crime in Scotland.
Too many of the non-smokers who carry around their feelings of superiority everywhere they go don't know when to shut up, and Jack is encouraging them to report and inform on people.
It may be that in the not so distant future McConnell will find out that Scotland's working class and the bedrock of the Labour party, who already feel remote from government and don't like state nannying, will take the opportunity of voting day to tell him just what they think of his "single biggest contribution."
See all recent posts.
What he means is that it was easier than doing anything important, stuff our pretendy wee parliament find are beyond their limited talents, like dealing with the serious issues in Scotland.
How about sorting out the failing health service, or dealing with the disgrace of this country that is child poverty, or the problems in schools? No... that's not so easy, and takes brains, which are in short supply in Holyrood.
But would improving these not be a bigger contribution than a nice easy smoking ban?
The toll of preventable deaths and illnesses will, in many instances, be transferred from adult smokers to their children at home, and I fear we may see one or two preventable deaths occurring when the usual holier-than-thou crew start telling smokers to "extinguish that nasty cigarette," only to get a six inch blade stuck in their ribs.
Because, of course, Jack has failed miserably at reducing the epidemic of knife crime in Scotland.
Too many of the non-smokers who carry around their feelings of superiority everywhere they go don't know when to shut up, and Jack is encouraging them to report and inform on people.
It may be that in the not so distant future McConnell will find out that Scotland's working class and the bedrock of the Labour party, who already feel remote from government and don't like state nannying, will take the opportunity of voting day to tell him just what they think of his "single biggest contribution."
See all recent posts.
A Grudging, Mean And Unchristian Response From Kember.
Norman Kember, Christian, is home after being freed by the SAS and many others in Iraq.
In my post yesterday, The Ingratitude Of Rescued Christians, I said that "any expression of thanks now, after being reminded, will be way too late and seen for what it is - hollow and insincere in a uniquely Christian sort of way."
And so it has come to pass.
On his arrival in the UK Kember issued a statement which contained, almost in passing, an excuse for a thank you so grudging and mean that it might have extracted from him with a loaded AK47 stuffed in his mouth.
Some 250 US, British and Australian special forces backed up by intelligence personnel, Scotland Yard negotiators, Canadian kidnap experts, FBI agents, MI6 officers and British undercover troops, bearded and dressed as Iraqis were in Baghdad working to get these naive, meddling, hypocritical, smart-ass "saviors" back with their heads still attached to their shoulders.
And who are Kember and the others crediting with their release?
You got it - GOD and those who prayed for them.
Sunday Times - Kember’s muted thanks fuels SAS rescue row
Sunday Times FOCUS: Getting in the way
See all recent posts.
In my post yesterday, The Ingratitude Of Rescued Christians, I said that "any expression of thanks now, after being reminded, will be way too late and seen for what it is - hollow and insincere in a uniquely Christian sort of way."
And so it has come to pass.
On his arrival in the UK Kember issued a statement which contained, almost in passing, an excuse for a thank you so grudging and mean that it might have extracted from him with a loaded AK47 stuffed in his mouth.
Some 250 US, British and Australian special forces backed up by intelligence personnel, Scotland Yard negotiators, Canadian kidnap experts, FBI agents, MI6 officers and British undercover troops, bearded and dressed as Iraqis were in Baghdad working to get these naive, meddling, hypocritical, smart-ass "saviors" back with their heads still attached to their shoulders.
And who are Kember and the others crediting with their release?
You got it - GOD and those who prayed for them.
Sunday Times - Kember’s muted thanks fuels SAS rescue row
Sunday Times FOCUS: Getting in the way
See all recent posts.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Moussaou Trial Is Not Like They Do It In Hollywood.
They filed into court three weeks ago — the grieving families, the press, the curious public, the jury — expecting to see the Bush Administration lay out in devastating detail why Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in the US for his connection to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, should be put to death.
Instead, they are witnessing a farce, with the government and the FBI playing the part of the Keystone Kops by displaying an exceptional level of incompetence which has had even the victim's families roaring with laughter.
On Tuesday Ed MacMahon, Moussaoui’s defence laywer, cross-examined Michael Rolince, of the FBI. He was there to defend the bureau, but his answers brought down the house.
Mr Rolince was forced to concede that he had never seen an April 2001 intelligence briefing paper warning that bin Laden was preparing to mount an attack, even though he had signed it. Mr MacMahon then introduced an April 13, 2001, FBI communication, approved by Mr Rolince, giving warning about bin Laden’s threat inside the US. Mr Rolince said that he had not approved it.
“Is it possible for a document to say you approved it if you have not approved it?” the judge asked.
“Absolutely,” he replied.
Stuff like that would never happen in a Hollywood movie, because nobody could possibly make it up.
See all recent posts.
Instead, they are witnessing a farce, with the government and the FBI playing the part of the Keystone Kops by displaying an exceptional level of incompetence which has had even the victim's families roaring with laughter.
On Tuesday Ed MacMahon, Moussaoui’s defence laywer, cross-examined Michael Rolince, of the FBI. He was there to defend the bureau, but his answers brought down the house.
Mr Rolince was forced to concede that he had never seen an April 2001 intelligence briefing paper warning that bin Laden was preparing to mount an attack, even though he had signed it. Mr MacMahon then introduced an April 13, 2001, FBI communication, approved by Mr Rolince, giving warning about bin Laden’s threat inside the US. Mr Rolince said that he had not approved it.
“Is it possible for a document to say you approved it if you have not approved it?” the judge asked.
“Absolutely,” he replied.
Stuff like that would never happen in a Hollywood movie, because nobody could possibly make it up.
See all recent posts.
The Ingratitude Of Rescued Christians.
Since Norman Kember and the other peace activists were kidnapped in Iraq I have avoided mentioning them, partly because I think their actions in going to Baghdad were foolish in the extreme and their aims, however worthy, doomed to failure, and partly because their abduction was a relatively unimportant incident in a country where far worse atrocities are happening every day.
Simply, I had no sympathy for them, unlike others kidnapped and executed who were genuinely doing something practical and useful for the Iraqi people.
In the statements released on the news, any sort of thanks from the three to the forces who rescued them has been glaring in its absence, and has now led to General Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the British Army, to comment that he is “saddened that there doesn’t seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives”.
Unfortunately this lack of decency and common manners by Kember and the others is not surprising.
They're Christians.
Hypocritical, selfish, superior, holier-than-thou bampots and wazzocks who would have us all believe they were saved by God, not people.
And any expression of thanks now, after being reminded, will be way too late and seen for what it is - hollow and insincere in a uniquely Christian sort of way.
---------------------------
And reports that the released hostages have refused to help their rescuers is nothing short of disgusting.
---------------------------
See all recent posts.
Simply, I had no sympathy for them, unlike others kidnapped and executed who were genuinely doing something practical and useful for the Iraqi people.
In the statements released on the news, any sort of thanks from the three to the forces who rescued them has been glaring in its absence, and has now led to General Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the British Army, to comment that he is “saddened that there doesn’t seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives”.
Unfortunately this lack of decency and common manners by Kember and the others is not surprising.
They're Christians.
Hypocritical, selfish, superior, holier-than-thou bampots and wazzocks who would have us all believe they were saved by God, not people.
And any expression of thanks now, after being reminded, will be way too late and seen for what it is - hollow and insincere in a uniquely Christian sort of way.
---------------------------
And reports that the released hostages have refused to help their rescuers is nothing short of disgusting.
---------------------------
See all recent posts.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Slap On Wrist For Abu Ghraib Dog Handler.
An Army dog handler has been found guilty on six of 13 counts of abusing detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, by terrifying them with a military dog for his own amusement.
He could have been sentenced to more than 8 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge.
If he had been found guilty on all counts he would have faced up to 24 years in prison.
In fact he was sentenced to 179 days in prison, demoted to private, fined $2,250 and will be released from the Army with a bad-conduct discharge after serving his sentence.
Another dog handler is due to stand trial in May - seems he doesn't have too much to worry about.
And neither do higher-ranking officers, despite attempts to persuade a military jury that ultimate responsibility for the abuses lay further up the chain of command.
---------------------------
And thanks to Tony for this about another case concerning army killings of civilians in Iraq.
See all recent posts.
He could have been sentenced to more than 8 years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge.
If he had been found guilty on all counts he would have faced up to 24 years in prison.
In fact he was sentenced to 179 days in prison, demoted to private, fined $2,250 and will be released from the Army with a bad-conduct discharge after serving his sentence.
Another dog handler is due to stand trial in May - seems he doesn't have too much to worry about.
And neither do higher-ranking officers, despite attempts to persuade a military jury that ultimate responsibility for the abuses lay further up the chain of command.
---------------------------
And thanks to Tony for this about another case concerning army killings of civilians in Iraq.
See all recent posts.
Robert Clive Had A Tortoise.
I vaguely recollect being taught about Clive of India when I was at school, but that was long enough ago for me to have forgotten anything I may have known about him, which was probably exceedingly boring anyway.
I certainly didn't know he had a pet tortoise called Adwaitya, which survived him when he died back in seventeen something, but I do now.
Because it has just died aged 255.
See all recent posts.
I certainly didn't know he had a pet tortoise called Adwaitya, which survived him when he died back in seventeen something, but I do now.
Because it has just died aged 255.
See all recent posts.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Springtime In The Highlands.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Tuesday March 21, 1933
The Guardian
President of the Munich police has informed the press that the first concentration camp holding 5,000 political prisoners is to be organised within the next few days.
Communists, "Marxists" and Reichsbanner leaders who endangered the security of the State would be kept in custody. It was impossible to find room for them in the State prisons, nor was it possible to release them. Experience had shown, he said, that the moment they were released, they started their agitation again....... measures were inevitable, and they would be carried out without any petty consideration.
The Cabinet at its meeting this afternoon decided on the text of the Enabling Bill which it will submit to the Reichstag. If this bill is passed, the Hitler Government will be endowed with absolute dictatorial powers. The Act will enable the Cabinet to legislate and to make laws even if these "mark a deviation from the Constitution."
Am I dreaming, or have I heard something like this before?....... Ummm....... it was sometime recently, I think.......
No...... it must have just been a bad dream.
I've been getting a lot of them recently.
See all recent posts.
The Guardian
President of the Munich police has informed the press that the first concentration camp holding 5,000 political prisoners is to be organised within the next few days.
Communists, "Marxists" and Reichsbanner leaders who endangered the security of the State would be kept in custody. It was impossible to find room for them in the State prisons, nor was it possible to release them. Experience had shown, he said, that the moment they were released, they started their agitation again....... measures were inevitable, and they would be carried out without any petty consideration.
The Cabinet at its meeting this afternoon decided on the text of the Enabling Bill which it will submit to the Reichstag. If this bill is passed, the Hitler Government will be endowed with absolute dictatorial powers. The Act will enable the Cabinet to legislate and to make laws even if these "mark a deviation from the Constitution."
Am I dreaming, or have I heard something like this before?....... Ummm....... it was sometime recently, I think.......
No...... it must have just been a bad dream.
I've been getting a lot of them recently.
See all recent posts.
Oh Dear, More On Humphrey.
After the sad death of Humphrey, a confession from George Jones about his part in the downfall of the innocent cat who gained a reputation as a feline serial killer.
Humphrey Deserves A Posthumous Pardon.
See all recent posts.
Humphrey Deserves A Posthumous Pardon.
See all recent posts.
US Troops Executing Women And Children In Iraq?
Iraqi police have accused American soldiers of executing 11 Iraqi civilians, including four children and a six-month-old baby, in a raid on Wednesday near the city of Balad.
"American forces used helicopters to drop troops on the house of Faiz Harat Khalaf situated in the Abu Sifa village of the Ishaqi district. The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 people, including five children, four women and two men, then they bombed the house, burned three vehicles and killed their animals."
Among victims the report lists two five-year-old children, two three-year-olds and a six-month-old baby.
This comes as US military investigators study reports that marines murdered 15 civilians in Haditha on 19 November last year, after a marine was killed in a roadside blast.
Unfortunately, as we know from past experience, when the US investigate allegations of war crimes by their own, no matter how compelling the evidence against their troops, justice is extremely unlikely to follow.
See all recent posts.
"American forces used helicopters to drop troops on the house of Faiz Harat Khalaf situated in the Abu Sifa village of the Ishaqi district. The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 people, including five children, four women and two men, then they bombed the house, burned three vehicles and killed their animals."
Among victims the report lists two five-year-old children, two three-year-olds and a six-month-old baby.
This comes as US military investigators study reports that marines murdered 15 civilians in Haditha on 19 November last year, after a marine was killed in a roadside blast.
Unfortunately, as we know from past experience, when the US investigate allegations of war crimes by their own, no matter how compelling the evidence against their troops, justice is extremely unlikely to follow.
See all recent posts.
Monday, March 20, 2006
America Has 'Lost Its Moral Compass.'
Mary Robinson, ex-United Nations human rights commissioner and former President of Ireland, has given a speech today in London in which she warns that the US has lost its moral compass and fallen out of step with the rest of the world in the wake of September 11.
She expressed sadness and regret at America’s erosion of human rights as part of its "War on Terror".
Talking about America's opposition to a new UN Human Rights Council, she said: "It illustrates the seismic shift which has taken place in the relation of the US to global rule of law issues. Today, the US no longer leads, but is too often seen merely to march out of step with the rest of the world."
Mrs Robinson spoke of the US government's use of Big Brother-style language to cover up their activities.
"Misuse of language has also led to Orwellian euphemisms, so that ’coercive interrogation’ is used instead of torture, or cruel and inhuman treatment; kidnapping becomes ’extraordinary rendition’," she said.
"The establishment of an off-shore prison in Guantanamo (and) its retention in the face of the most principled and sustained criticism ... are all aspects of this situation."
She went on: "The tables have turned, and it is UK rather than US courts which are taking a lead as interpreters of fundamental human rights, on the basis of the European Convention and - by extension - the body of international human rights treaty law.
"This new situation is well illustrated by recent House of Lords decisions, most notably their ruling that evidence obtained through torture is inadmissible in any proceedings before UK courts."
But Mrs Robinson warned that "political decisions" in Britain - such as pre-trial detention periods or limiting the right to peaceful demonstration - could become examples used to justify the behaviour by the state in less democratic countries.
The Times.
See all recent posts.
She expressed sadness and regret at America’s erosion of human rights as part of its "War on Terror".
Talking about America's opposition to a new UN Human Rights Council, she said: "It illustrates the seismic shift which has taken place in the relation of the US to global rule of law issues. Today, the US no longer leads, but is too often seen merely to march out of step with the rest of the world."
Mrs Robinson spoke of the US government's use of Big Brother-style language to cover up their activities.
"Misuse of language has also led to Orwellian euphemisms, so that ’coercive interrogation’ is used instead of torture, or cruel and inhuman treatment; kidnapping becomes ’extraordinary rendition’," she said.
"The establishment of an off-shore prison in Guantanamo (and) its retention in the face of the most principled and sustained criticism ... are all aspects of this situation."
She went on: "The tables have turned, and it is UK rather than US courts which are taking a lead as interpreters of fundamental human rights, on the basis of the European Convention and - by extension - the body of international human rights treaty law.
"This new situation is well illustrated by recent House of Lords decisions, most notably their ruling that evidence obtained through torture is inadmissible in any proceedings before UK courts."
But Mrs Robinson warned that "political decisions" in Britain - such as pre-trial detention periods or limiting the right to peaceful demonstration - could become examples used to justify the behaviour by the state in less democratic countries.
The Times.
See all recent posts.
Another ID Card Defeat For Government.
The Lords has defeated the government for the fourth time on identity card legislation.
Liberal Democrat Lord Phillips of Sudbury said: "When I see the elected House coming to this place and saying to the country that that manifesto commitment, doesn't mean voluntary, it means compulsory, then I do actually believe that we have a duty then to say, 'No you don't'.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke told opponents to stop "frustrating the will of the people".
This is less about the will of the people than the will of Tony Blair and Charles Clarke.
Listen Up, You Sleepwalking Sheep
See all recent posts.
Liberal Democrat Lord Phillips of Sudbury said: "When I see the elected House coming to this place and saying to the country that that manifesto commitment, doesn't mean voluntary, it means compulsory, then I do actually believe that we have a duty then to say, 'No you don't'.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke told opponents to stop "frustrating the will of the people".
This is less about the will of the people than the will of Tony Blair and Charles Clarke.
Listen Up, You Sleepwalking Sheep
See all recent posts.
Humphrey The Cat.
Humphrey the Downing Street cat, has died, aged around 18.
He was a serial killer who attracted fan mail, knew Margaret Thatcher and survived the experience, only to be thrown out by Cherie Blair.
The cat played a crucial role in ridding Whitehall of vermin. In a file released by the Cabinet Office last July, a civil servant, answering whether Humphrey had ever given birth, replied: “No, he has been positively vetted.” The file added: “He is a workaholic who spends nearly all his time at the office, has no criminal record, does not socialise a great deal or go to many parties and has not been involved in any sex or drug scandals that we know of.”
And in the same report, he added: “He has caught numerous mice and the odd rat. By a perhaps unfair comparison, Rentokil have been operating for years and have never caught anything.”
Humphrey also caught the wrath of Cherie Blair. Can cats come back and haunt?
See all recent posts.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Glencoe, Scotland.
Iraq Occupation - The Self-Delusion And Spin Continues.
The latest example of the self-delusion and spin that have characterised the occupation.
Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops are engaged this weekend in Operation Swarmer, described as "the largest air assault operation" since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Three days into the offensive against suspected insurgents, it has became clear that this "assault" was little more than a propaganda exercise.
There had been no clashes and no casualties among American or Iraqi troops. Fifteen caches of weapons and explosives were said to have been found, but television footage showed little more than the kind of small arms most rural Iraqis keep to protect their homes. An American spokesman said 83 people had been detained, of whom 17 were later released.
There were no air strikes, despite the impression created by describing Swarmer as an air assault operation.
Three years on and still they're lying to us.
Read the whole article in The Independent.
See all recent posts.
Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops are engaged this weekend in Operation Swarmer, described as "the largest air assault operation" since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Three days into the offensive against suspected insurgents, it has became clear that this "assault" was little more than a propaganda exercise.
There had been no clashes and no casualties among American or Iraqi troops. Fifteen caches of weapons and explosives were said to have been found, but television footage showed little more than the kind of small arms most rural Iraqis keep to protect their homes. An American spokesman said 83 people had been detained, of whom 17 were later released.
There were no air strikes, despite the impression created by describing Swarmer as an air assault operation.
Three years on and still they're lying to us.
Read the whole article in The Independent.
See all recent posts.
Palestine - "People Will Go To Bed Tonight Hungry."
Wheat-flour stocks have run out in the Gaza Strip, with most bakeries closing, and Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians face an unprecedented food shortage because of Israeli closures that have prevented the import of wheat.
"The situation is extremely serious," says David Shearer of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
"In the next day or so all bread supplies will dry up. There is very little else around in terms of rice, which is also short in supply. Bread is the staple diet for Palestinians. It is also the food of the poorest people, so if that's not available, people will start to go hungry," Shearer said.
Israel just goes on piling one inhumanity on top of another, seemingly with impunity.
It is uncivilized, barbarous and savagely cruel behaviour which should not be tolerated.
See all recent posts.
"The situation is extremely serious," says David Shearer of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
"In the next day or so all bread supplies will dry up. There is very little else around in terms of rice, which is also short in supply. Bread is the staple diet for Palestinians. It is also the food of the poorest people, so if that's not available, people will start to go hungry," Shearer said.
Israel just goes on piling one inhumanity on top of another, seemingly with impunity.
It is uncivilized, barbarous and savagely cruel behaviour which should not be tolerated.
See all recent posts.
Activate Yourself, And Enjoy The Ride.
"So I'm driving to work this morning, nauseatingly contemplating how screwed the world is, how my excruciatingly long commute was contributing to environmental devastation, how I should be doing more, and how contrary to my self-image I wasn't a serious activist at all."
Tal Ariel is not a seasoned organizer or community leader, or a scholar. He's not a journalist or an author, and doesn't meet with world leaders or celebrities although, he says, he did once hug Cindy Sheehan.
So he thought about it and came up with the Amateur Activist Kit, "for all of you out there who feel my pain, and for the sake of feeling better about myself.
Education & Awareness.
Dissemination & Agitation.
Donations & Support.
Volunteering.
Socialize.
Pressure your representatives.
All stuff any of us could do. Stuff that could make a difference if enough of us knew how to do it, and Tal tells us how here.
It's easy, and for those of us who feel helpless and unable to influence events that concern us, whether it be the environment, war, government legislation, or getting something done about that new community centre that's never getting built for the kids, there's no excuse now.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. But the point is not to freak out about the enormity of the entire iceberg and give up from the start," says Tal.
See all recent posts.
Tal Ariel is not a seasoned organizer or community leader, or a scholar. He's not a journalist or an author, and doesn't meet with world leaders or celebrities although, he says, he did once hug Cindy Sheehan.
So he thought about it and came up with the Amateur Activist Kit, "for all of you out there who feel my pain, and for the sake of feeling better about myself.
Education & Awareness.
Dissemination & Agitation.
Donations & Support.
Volunteering.
Socialize.
Pressure your representatives.
All stuff any of us could do. Stuff that could make a difference if enough of us knew how to do it, and Tal tells us how here.
It's easy, and for those of us who feel helpless and unable to influence events that concern us, whether it be the environment, war, government legislation, or getting something done about that new community centre that's never getting built for the kids, there's no excuse now.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg. But the point is not to freak out about the enormity of the entire iceberg and give up from the start," says Tal.
See all recent posts.
Listen Up, You Sleepwalking Sheep.
The "voluntary" identity cards which we are all going to carry if Blair and Clarke and the gang have their way - and their is little evidence so far, judging by the non-reaction of the British public, that the government will not get their way - is now to include chip-and-pin technology as a way of checking each person's identity.
While the government still maintain the fiction that the ID card is defence against identity theft and terrorism, chip-and-pin technology has already been compromised by organised criminals, and what this whole scheme is really about is the ceaseless monitoring of people's lives by the state, big corporations, the police, MI5, Inland Revenue, Customs and, as Henry Porter says in The Observer, "any damned official or commercial busybody that wants access to your life."
Ah, but I hear you Bahhhh, if I have nothing to hide I have nothing to fear.
Well, you're the woolies I'm talking to.
Private businesses are going to be given access to the national identity register database. If you want to apply for a job, you will have to present your card for a swipe. If you want to apply for a London underground Oystercard or supermarket loyalty card or driving licence, you will have to present your card.
You will need the card when you receive prescription drugs, when you withdraw a relatively small amount of money from a bank, check into hospital, get your car unclamped, apply for a fishing licence, set up an internet account, fix a residents' parking permit or take out insurance.
All for the central database to log.
And, of course, you will have to pay dearly for the privilege of having the right to exist as a citizen in the UK because, without the card it will be almost impossible to live your life.
Of course, if you are one of the sheep, content to follow the rest of the flock who seem content to be herded into a life of subservience and control by the all-seeing state, none of this will worry you.
Personally, I find it worrying that Tesco know so much about my eating habits from my loyalty card, let alone having to hand over my life for them to swipe before I can eat.
I've done nothing wrong, so have nothing to fear is a brave statement and worthy of careful consideration by those who make that claim. Can any one of us say we have absolutely nothing to fear from a state that knows our every move?
Those sheep already dead, frozen and prepacked on Tesco's shelves need not answer that.
The rest should think hard, then worry.
See all recent posts.
While the government still maintain the fiction that the ID card is defence against identity theft and terrorism, chip-and-pin technology has already been compromised by organised criminals, and what this whole scheme is really about is the ceaseless monitoring of people's lives by the state, big corporations, the police, MI5, Inland Revenue, Customs and, as Henry Porter says in The Observer, "any damned official or commercial busybody that wants access to your life."
Ah, but I hear you Bahhhh, if I have nothing to hide I have nothing to fear.
Well, you're the woolies I'm talking to.
Private businesses are going to be given access to the national identity register database. If you want to apply for a job, you will have to present your card for a swipe. If you want to apply for a London underground Oystercard or supermarket loyalty card or driving licence, you will have to present your card.
You will need the card when you receive prescription drugs, when you withdraw a relatively small amount of money from a bank, check into hospital, get your car unclamped, apply for a fishing licence, set up an internet account, fix a residents' parking permit or take out insurance.
All for the central database to log.
And, of course, you will have to pay dearly for the privilege of having the right to exist as a citizen in the UK because, without the card it will be almost impossible to live your life.
Of course, if you are one of the sheep, content to follow the rest of the flock who seem content to be herded into a life of subservience and control by the all-seeing state, none of this will worry you.
Personally, I find it worrying that Tesco know so much about my eating habits from my loyalty card, let alone having to hand over my life for them to swipe before I can eat.
I've done nothing wrong, so have nothing to fear is a brave statement and worthy of careful consideration by those who make that claim. Can any one of us say we have absolutely nothing to fear from a state that knows our every move?
Those sheep already dead, frozen and prepacked on Tesco's shelves need not answer that.
The rest should think hard, then worry.
See all recent posts.
The Legacy Of Chernobyl - And Dounreay In Scotland.
Twenty years on from the world's worst environmental catastrophe, John Woodcock (for The Independent) revisits the still-poisonous landscapes of Ukraine and Belarus. But as Britain debates whether to build a new generation of nuclear power stations, are we forgetting the terrifying lessons of 26 April 1986?
As Tony Blair tries to convince us, as he seems to be convinced, of the benefits of a nice new set of nuclear power stations scattered across Britain for us to warm our hands in front of, The Independent reminds us of the reality of what happens when it all goes horribly wrong.
It's a harrowing story, so why not get yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee - or even a large brandy - before proceeding HERE.
And to those who point out that the Russian reactor was of a bad design therefore the same couldn't happen here, now or in the future in Britain?
I can only assume they're as demented as Tony Blair.
"To those sitting in offices, debating this issue, I have this simple message: to want more nuclear power rather than less is madness. I wish I could show these people what I see in mortuaries in my country. I wish I could show them the horror of what my experiments reveal. I would say to them, 'Do you need further proof?'
Professor Yuri Bandazhevsky, former rector of the medical institute in Gomel, who went public after noting an alarming increase in heart problems and birth defects among children after Chernobyl, when asked what his message to Tony Blair would be.
---------------------------
DOUNREAY HAS SPRUNG A LEAK.
19/03/06
An old nuclear waste store at Dounreay on the northern coast of Scotland in Caithness has sprung a leak and contaminated the ground with radioactivity.
The 35ft deep concrete silo has been used to dump 27 years worth, some 650 cubic metres, of solids and sludges under water.
A manhole used when monitoring a loop of now contaminated water that runs round the silo has developed a defect, and some of the radioactive water has escaped into the ground.
The silo, built in the 1960s, failed to meet modern standards for storing medium-level waste. Under the decommissioning programme it was due to start being emptied in 2019, but this could be brought forward.
A Dounreay spokesman said the level of radioactivity in the surrounding loop was a million times lower than in the silo. “The measures now in place provide additional reassurance about the safe containment of the wastes, pending its retrieval,” he said.
Twenty million cubic metres of contaminated soil and rubble is expected to be produced by the decommissioning of 30 civil and military nuclear sites across the UK .
See all recent posts.
As Tony Blair tries to convince us, as he seems to be convinced, of the benefits of a nice new set of nuclear power stations scattered across Britain for us to warm our hands in front of, The Independent reminds us of the reality of what happens when it all goes horribly wrong.
It's a harrowing story, so why not get yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee - or even a large brandy - before proceeding HERE.
And to those who point out that the Russian reactor was of a bad design therefore the same couldn't happen here, now or in the future in Britain?
I can only assume they're as demented as Tony Blair.
"To those sitting in offices, debating this issue, I have this simple message: to want more nuclear power rather than less is madness. I wish I could show these people what I see in mortuaries in my country. I wish I could show them the horror of what my experiments reveal. I would say to them, 'Do you need further proof?'
Professor Yuri Bandazhevsky, former rector of the medical institute in Gomel, who went public after noting an alarming increase in heart problems and birth defects among children after Chernobyl, when asked what his message to Tony Blair would be.
---------------------------
DOUNREAY HAS SPRUNG A LEAK.
19/03/06
An old nuclear waste store at Dounreay on the northern coast of Scotland in Caithness has sprung a leak and contaminated the ground with radioactivity.
The 35ft deep concrete silo has been used to dump 27 years worth, some 650 cubic metres, of solids and sludges under water.
A manhole used when monitoring a loop of now contaminated water that runs round the silo has developed a defect, and some of the radioactive water has escaped into the ground.
The silo, built in the 1960s, failed to meet modern standards for storing medium-level waste. Under the decommissioning programme it was due to start being emptied in 2019, but this could be brought forward.
A Dounreay spokesman said the level of radioactivity in the surrounding loop was a million times lower than in the silo. “The measures now in place provide additional reassurance about the safe containment of the wastes, pending its retrieval,” he said.
Twenty million cubic metres of contaminated soil and rubble is expected to be produced by the decommissioning of 30 civil and military nuclear sites across the UK .
See all recent posts.
Some News For Blair & Bush.
Iraq is in the middle of civil war, the country's former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has told the BBC.
No Kidding!?
Will somebody tell Blair and Bush, 'cos they haven't heard yet.
See all recent posts.
No Kidding!?
Will somebody tell Blair and Bush, 'cos they haven't heard yet.
See all recent posts.
Ruth Kelly Is Asked A Question.
Education Secretary Ruth Kelly is facing demands that she explain an apparent 'black hole' in her Commons expenses concerning £72,000 of taxpayers money she claimed on a second home.
Commons rules state that Kelly is entitled to claim back the interest payments she makes on her mortgage, and she has claimed the money over the past four years to pay for a house in her Lancashire constituency, but the annual mortgage interest should be around £5,000 a year, a total of £20,000 over the four years.
Allowing a ridiculously high estimate for utility bills and council tax, this leaves about £42,000 unaccounted for.
By the end of next year, Ms Kelly is likely to have claimed in expenses the entire £109,000 she originally paid for the property.
The MP has declined to comment, apart from a text message via an aide in her Department for Education and Skills: "From julie, dfes, 'all money claimed is in strict accordance with the rules set out by the Fees Office.' i have nothing to add to that comment."
See all recent posts.
Commons rules state that Kelly is entitled to claim back the interest payments she makes on her mortgage, and she has claimed the money over the past four years to pay for a house in her Lancashire constituency, but the annual mortgage interest should be around £5,000 a year, a total of £20,000 over the four years.
Allowing a ridiculously high estimate for utility bills and council tax, this leaves about £42,000 unaccounted for.
By the end of next year, Ms Kelly is likely to have claimed in expenses the entire £109,000 she originally paid for the property.
The MP has declined to comment, apart from a text message via an aide in her Department for Education and Skills: "From julie, dfes, 'all money claimed is in strict accordance with the rules set out by the Fees Office.' i have nothing to add to that comment."
See all recent posts.
To A Zionist Spammer.
"I'm having a hard time right now. Just feel sick to the stomach a lot from being doted on all the time....... very sweetly, by people who are facing doom"...
Rachel Corrie.
Rachel Corrie.
Perhaps the only way to answer those who would have us
all believe that the people of Palestine deserve the
treatment handed out to them by the Israeli State, deserve
the inhumanity, degradation, violence and war crimes
committed against them by that State, is to ask that they
read the accounts in the e-mails of Rachel Corrie, who, Kirsten writes, "died in Rafah, Gaza Strip, while using her body to defend a house from demolition by the Israeli army. She knew the family that lived there; she had stayed with them, eaten with them, played with their children. She was wearing a bright orange jacket, and speaking through a megaphone to the driver of the 9-ton Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer that killed her. He dropped the blade, ran over her, and backed over her again.
She died of massive internal injuries."
Kirsten has the links to the e-mails and suggests they be
read out loud.
I did.
But, I fear, the hate, intolerance and racism of this spammer, Comments, Previous Post, suggest someone incapable of rational thought and judgement, therefore the words of Rachel, Kirsten and little old me will be wasted on a mind too far gone.
See all recent posts.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Rally Against War.
Two hundred anti-war demonstrations taking place in cities and towns all over the world, including in Basra and Baghdad in Iraq.
New York, Madrid, Rome, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Dublin.
A rally in Trafalgar Square after the march in London.
Will Blair and Bush listen to the people?
Don't make me laugh!
See all recent posts.
New York, Madrid, Rome, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Dublin.
A rally in Trafalgar Square after the march in London.
Will Blair and Bush listen to the people?
Don't make me laugh!
See all recent posts.
Pensioners Imprisoned In Care Home Since Christmas.
Twelve elderly residents of a care home run by the Church of Scotland have been stuck on the upper floors of the building since Christmas Day - because the lift is broken and they are too frail to walk down the stairs.
The Church, which runs the home in Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland, say it has not been possible to repair the lift since it broke down in December because spares have not arrived from Italy, but they expect it to be operational on April 10.
Carrying the patients downstairs is felt to be too much of a safety risk.
Or too much bother, perhaps, and after all they're only old people. What would they want to go out for?
It is hard to comprehend how the people who run this place have managed to keep such a disgraceful situation quiet for all this time, and to state that the lift will be repaired in April, as if to suggest that is satisfactory and the pensioners will remain in this 'Christian' prison until then, is little short of criminal.
To call it a care home is laughable, and the authorities who regulate and licence these places should get these people out and house them somewhere civilized immediately, and shut the place down.
See all recent posts.
The Church, which runs the home in Stonehaven on the east coast of Scotland, say it has not been possible to repair the lift since it broke down in December because spares have not arrived from Italy, but they expect it to be operational on April 10.
Carrying the patients downstairs is felt to be too much of a safety risk.
Or too much bother, perhaps, and after all they're only old people. What would they want to go out for?
It is hard to comprehend how the people who run this place have managed to keep such a disgraceful situation quiet for all this time, and to state that the lift will be repaired in April, as if to suggest that is satisfactory and the pensioners will remain in this 'Christian' prison until then, is little short of criminal.
To call it a care home is laughable, and the authorities who regulate and licence these places should get these people out and house them somewhere civilized immediately, and shut the place down.
See all recent posts.
Adams Held At US Airport.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was held for "secondary screening" at a Washington airport, causing him to miss a St Patrick's Day event in Buffalo.
Congressman Brian Higgins told the audience at the venue Mr Adams was absent because his name was on a "terror watch list".
A Homeland Security official declined to explain why Mr Adams underwent the secondary screening, which was described as "thorough".
I don't personally have a lot of time for Adams, but for him to be on a terror watch list in the USA after all that he has done for the peace process and weapons decommissioning in Northern Ireland smacks of sheer stupidity.
Like him or loath him, he's a politician.
What did the idiots expect to find in his luggage, an exploding shamrock?
See all recent posts.
Congressman Brian Higgins told the audience at the venue Mr Adams was absent because his name was on a "terror watch list".
A Homeland Security official declined to explain why Mr Adams underwent the secondary screening, which was described as "thorough".
I don't personally have a lot of time for Adams, but for him to be on a terror watch list in the USA after all that he has done for the peace process and weapons decommissioning in Northern Ireland smacks of sheer stupidity.
Like him or loath him, he's a politician.
What did the idiots expect to find in his luggage, an exploding shamrock?
See all recent posts.
Google - A Victory For Privacy.
A federal judge has DENIED a U.S. government request that Google be ordered to hand over a sample of keywords customers use to search the Internet, but has said that the company produce some Web addresses indexed in its system.
Judge James Ware of the U.S. District for the Northern District of California said the privacy considerations of Google users led him to deny part of the Justice Department's request.
"What his ruling means is that neither the government nor anyone else has carte blanche when demanding data from Internet companies," Nicole Wong, the company's associate general counsel, said in a statement on the Google Web site.
Full comment, Judge tells DoJ "No" on search queries, on the Google Blog.
See all recent posts.
Judge James Ware of the U.S. District for the Northern District of California said the privacy considerations of Google users led him to deny part of the Justice Department's request.
"What his ruling means is that neither the government nor anyone else has carte blanche when demanding data from Internet companies," Nicole Wong, the company's associate general counsel, said in a statement on the Google Web site.
Full comment, Judge tells DoJ "No" on search queries, on the Google Blog.
See all recent posts.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Arab Baby Kept By Hospital As Collateral.
An Arab mother who gave birth to triplets in the Moqassed hospital in East Jerusalem was unable to pay 10,000 shekels (£1,250) for treatment.
The hospital kept one of the children, a girl, as a "guarantee" until the money was found.
The baby was held for two months until the parents went to the Justice Ministry who, after investigating, ordered that the infant be returned to its mother, and is now deciding whether to press charges of false imprisonment against the hospital.
A heart-warming story of caring, dedicated health professionals.
See all recent posts.
The hospital kept one of the children, a girl, as a "guarantee" until the money was found.
The baby was held for two months until the parents went to the Justice Ministry who, after investigating, ordered that the infant be returned to its mother, and is now deciding whether to press charges of false imprisonment against the hospital.
A heart-warming story of caring, dedicated health professionals.
See all recent posts.
Police Told To Rewrite Tactics.
According to The Times, the Independent Police Complaints Commission has told every force in Britain to rewrite their tactics after the Stockwell tube killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.
A highly critical report, delivered to Sir Ian Blair this week, found that plans to deal with a suicide bomber on the streets of London were totally inadequate.
This comes after the Association of Chief Police Officers said earlier this month that the shoot to kill policy was "fit for purpose" and need not change, but called for a leaflet to explain the tactics more clearly to the public.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, resigned from the review panel set up by Acpo, and said “It was window dressing, the review was a sham.”
And, of course, she was right.
See all recent posts.
A highly critical report, delivered to Sir Ian Blair this week, found that plans to deal with a suicide bomber on the streets of London were totally inadequate.
This comes after the Association of Chief Police Officers said earlier this month that the shoot to kill policy was "fit for purpose" and need not change, but called for a leaflet to explain the tactics more clearly to the public.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, resigned from the review panel set up by Acpo, and said “It was window dressing, the review was a sham.”
And, of course, she was right.
See all recent posts.
A "Gold Standard" Cover-Up By Police.
Brian Paddick, one of Britain's most senior police officers, has given a statement to the Independent Police Complaints Commission which raises doubts about the account given by Sir Ian Blair, who insists that he was unaware that Jean Charles de Menezes, shot dead at a London tube station, was innocent until the day after the police opened fire.
Metropolitan police chief Blair will be questioned under criminal caution by IPCC investigators, and has received a formal written warning, called a regulation nine notice, saying that he is under investigation for potential disciplinary offences.
Paddick, a deputy assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard, has told the IPCC that fears surfaced inside Sir Ian's office on the day of the killing that the wrong man had been shot dead.
Scotland Yard said the suggestion that an aide to the commissioner knew that the man shot at Stockwell was innocent was "simply not true ... We are aware of the suggestion, who made it and which officer is alleged to have had the information".
A Yard source described the current atmosphere at Scotland Yard as "poisonous," and Brian Paddick is consulting his lawyers over comments by the Yard about his evidence to the IPCC.
He is understood to be extremely angry at a Scotland Yard statement challenging his evidence.
Watching a bunch of gold gilded bobbies all trying to save their own necks is not the most edifying of spectacles, but at least they haven't started shooting each other....... yet.
See all recent posts.
Metropolitan police chief Blair will be questioned under criminal caution by IPCC investigators, and has received a formal written warning, called a regulation nine notice, saying that he is under investigation for potential disciplinary offences.
Paddick, a deputy assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard, has told the IPCC that fears surfaced inside Sir Ian's office on the day of the killing that the wrong man had been shot dead.
Scotland Yard said the suggestion that an aide to the commissioner knew that the man shot at Stockwell was innocent was "simply not true ... We are aware of the suggestion, who made it and which officer is alleged to have had the information".
A Yard source described the current atmosphere at Scotland Yard as "poisonous," and Brian Paddick is consulting his lawyers over comments by the Yard about his evidence to the IPCC.
He is understood to be extremely angry at a Scotland Yard statement challenging his evidence.
Watching a bunch of gold gilded bobbies all trying to save their own necks is not the most edifying of spectacles, but at least they haven't started shooting each other....... yet.
See all recent posts.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
A Lazy Post.
I just binned the post I was working on about the British threatening to cancel an order for jets from the Americans.
Read about it at Oddities & Endities and you get an amusing wee cartoon to go with the story.
And I've been up all night, so it saves me some work, which means I can go and fill my wee furry hippopotamus hot water bottle and crawl off to bed for a few hours.
G'nite.
See all recent posts.
Read about it at Oddities & Endities and you get an amusing wee cartoon to go with the story.
And I've been up all night, so it saves me some work, which means I can go and fill my wee furry hippopotamus hot water bottle and crawl off to bed for a few hours.
G'nite.
See all recent posts.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Labour Loans Will Be Investigated.
Labour's treasurer has revealed that he and other elected officials did not know the party had secretly borrowed millions of pounds last year.
Jack Dromey is to investigate the matter with the party's general secretary and will report next Tuesday.
Downing Street must have known before him about the loans - which amounted to "millions" of pounds, he said.
"It's wrong that Downing Street thinks it can run the Labour Party: we are an elected party, a democratic party."
Conservative MP Nigel Evans called for an independent inquiry to find out where the money had come from and where it was now.
"Even Enron would be amazed at hearing the sort of accounting practices that are going on within the Labour Party," he said.
See all recent posts.
Jack Dromey is to investigate the matter with the party's general secretary and will report next Tuesday.
Downing Street must have known before him about the loans - which amounted to "millions" of pounds, he said.
"It's wrong that Downing Street thinks it can run the Labour Party: we are an elected party, a democratic party."
Conservative MP Nigel Evans called for an independent inquiry to find out where the money had come from and where it was now.
"Even Enron would be amazed at hearing the sort of accounting practices that are going on within the Labour Party," he said.
See all recent posts.
Blair - When Winning Means Defeat.
The government's education bill passed its second reading tonight, but only with the support of Conservative MPs - to the embarrassment of Tony Blair.
"Tonight the prime minister has walked out on the party and effectively resigned as leader," said the Hayes and Harlington MP.
Indeed.
"Tonight the prime minister has walked out on the party and effectively resigned as leader," said the Hayes and Harlington MP.
Indeed.
Third Lords Defeat For ID Cards.
Peers voted 218 to 183, a majority of 35, to keep the scheme voluntary, rejecting what they regard as "creeping compulsion" by forcing passport applicants to also get an ID card.
If only the public would see the ID card bill for what it is and say no as loudly as the Lords are doing.
NO2ID
See all recent posts.
If only the public would see the ID card bill for what it is and say no as loudly as the Lords are doing.
NO2ID
See all recent posts.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
An Already Dreadful Situation In The Middle East Just Got A Lot Worse.
The Israeli attack on the prison in West Bank Jericho earlier today, Israeli Troops Storm Jericho Jail, coming two weeks before Israel goes to the polls, would appear to be the Zionist version of a party political broadcast,
There has been a wave of unrest during which a British Council cultural centre in Gaza being set on fire and an EU compound stormed and western hostages taken.
Ahmed Saadat and other Palestinian prisoners have surrendered and are being held by the Israelis.
The Israeli action came shortly after UK and US monitors left the Palestinian-run prison complaining about their safety.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has confirmed that Britain informed the Israeli authorities about the imminent withdrawal.
He told the Commons this afternoon that the British and US governments had been aware the Israelis might try to take control of the prison, and that demonstrations in Gaza city were possible.
Given the major diplomatic crisis between Britain, the US and the Palestinians that this incident has caused, one might ask whether this was merely a gross misjudgment by the British and Americans, or a deliberate act of collusion with the Israelis.
It surely will be difficult, given the British government's past record for truth and accuracy, for anyone to believe any explanation they might give to justify what has happened.
Straw defends Jericho jail withdrawal
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There has been a wave of unrest during which a British Council cultural centre in Gaza being set on fire and an EU compound stormed and western hostages taken.
Ahmed Saadat and other Palestinian prisoners have surrendered and are being held by the Israelis.
The Israeli action came shortly after UK and US monitors left the Palestinian-run prison complaining about their safety.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has confirmed that Britain informed the Israeli authorities about the imminent withdrawal.
He told the Commons this afternoon that the British and US governments had been aware the Israelis might try to take control of the prison, and that demonstrations in Gaza city were possible.
Given the major diplomatic crisis between Britain, the US and the Palestinians that this incident has caused, one might ask whether this was merely a gross misjudgment by the British and Americans, or a deliberate act of collusion with the Israelis.
It surely will be difficult, given the British government's past record for truth and accuracy, for anyone to believe any explanation they might give to justify what has happened.
Straw defends Jericho jail withdrawal
See all recent posts.
Tell Me When South Park Is On The Box.
Singer Isaac Hayes is to stop providing the voice for a character in cartoon South Park because he objects to its "inappropriate ridicule" of religion.
The Scientology Church, to which Hayes belongs, was parodied.
Co-creator Matt Stone said: "In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews.
"He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."
I don't watch a lot of TV, and have never watched South Park, but if it does "inappropriate ridicule" of religion, and Jesus as a TV presenter, I've been missing out badly.
See all recent posts.
The Scientology Church, to which Hayes belongs, was parodied.
Co-creator Matt Stone said: "In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews.
"He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."
I don't watch a lot of TV, and have never watched South Park, but if it does "inappropriate ridicule" of religion, and Jesus as a TV presenter, I've been missing out badly.
See all recent posts.
Iraq - Blair Told Of "Unbelievable Mess" In 2003.
Tony Blair was given explicit warnings, three years ago, that the US was disastrously mishandling the occupation of Iraq.
John Sawers, Blair's envoy in Baghdad in the aftermath of the invasion, sent a series of confidential memos to Downing Street in May and June 2003 cataloguing US failures.
He described the US postwar administration, led by the retired general Jay Garner, as "an unbelievable mess" and said "Garner and his top team of 60-year-old retired generals" were "well-meaning but out of their depth".
So Blair was well informed about what a disaster it was in 2003, and no doubt learned pretty quickly after that that he had absolutely no control over events taking place in the adventure he had so willingly signed up for and that, with Bush and his accomplices calling the shots, he had no choice but to tag along like a lapdog on a short lead.
Sawyers wrote: "No leadership, no strategy, no coordination, no structure and inaccessible to ordinary Iraqis."
Major General Albert Whitley, the most senior British officer with the US land forces, in another memo later that summer, wrote: "We may have been seduced into something we might be inclined to regret. Is strategic failure a possibility? The answer has to be 'yes'."
And it doesn't come much clearer than that.
Read the Guardian article in full.
See all recent posts.
John Sawers, Blair's envoy in Baghdad in the aftermath of the invasion, sent a series of confidential memos to Downing Street in May and June 2003 cataloguing US failures.
He described the US postwar administration, led by the retired general Jay Garner, as "an unbelievable mess" and said "Garner and his top team of 60-year-old retired generals" were "well-meaning but out of their depth".
So Blair was well informed about what a disaster it was in 2003, and no doubt learned pretty quickly after that that he had absolutely no control over events taking place in the adventure he had so willingly signed up for and that, with Bush and his accomplices calling the shots, he had no choice but to tag along like a lapdog on a short lead.
Sawyers wrote: "No leadership, no strategy, no coordination, no structure and inaccessible to ordinary Iraqis."
Major General Albert Whitley, the most senior British officer with the US land forces, in another memo later that summer, wrote: "We may have been seduced into something we might be inclined to regret. Is strategic failure a possibility? The answer has to be 'yes'."
And it doesn't come much clearer than that.
Read the Guardian article in full.
See all recent posts.
Israeli Troops Storm Jericho Jail.
Israeli troops have stormed a prison compound in the West Bank town of Jericho in an operation to arrest jailed militants held over the assassination of an Israeli minister.
One Palestinian security guard was killed and 18 others were wounded as gunfire rang out and explosions rocked the area after Israeli forces on Tuesday pushed into the compound that houses the prison.
Bulldozers started to destroy the compound as Israeli troops called through loudspeakers on Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and his comrades to surrender.
A spokesman for the Palestinian interior ministry in Gaza City said the British and Americans (Saadat is normally guarded by British and US prison warders, in addition to Palestinian jailers) left the premises shortly before the operation began.
"We have information that the British and Americans left the prison this morning," Tawfiq Abu Khussa told AFP.
Highly convenient.
BBC - Israelis Storm Palestinian Prison
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One Palestinian security guard was killed and 18 others were wounded as gunfire rang out and explosions rocked the area after Israeli forces on Tuesday pushed into the compound that houses the prison.
Bulldozers started to destroy the compound as Israeli troops called through loudspeakers on Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and his comrades to surrender.
A spokesman for the Palestinian interior ministry in Gaza City said the British and Americans (Saadat is normally guarded by British and US prison warders, in addition to Palestinian jailers) left the premises shortly before the operation began.
"We have information that the British and Americans left the prison this morning," Tawfiq Abu Khussa told AFP.
Highly convenient.
BBC - Israelis Storm Palestinian Prison
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Written Warning For Blair The Bobby.
Incredibly, Ian Blair is going to be back at his desk this morning, after issuing groveling apologies to all and sundry (but not to the public) for his latest gaffe.
He's as sticky as a wad of chewing gum stuck to the pavement.
The Times reports that Sir Ian Blair received an unprecedented written warning from his bosses last night after being forced to make a series of humiliating apologies for secretly recording telephone calls.
The Guardian reports that a mole hunt will begin to find out who squealed on the boss.
Perhaps they want to promote the leaker to Blair's job for showing initiative.
And The Telegraph says the only cause for regret if he were made to resign now would be that there were so many other, better reasons already why he should have been made to go.
He should have been gone after the Stockwell debacle, and the latest expressions of confidence by the other Blair and Home Secretary Clarke show just as much lack of judgement as that the Met chief regularly displays.
See all recent posts.
He's as sticky as a wad of chewing gum stuck to the pavement.
The Times reports that Sir Ian Blair received an unprecedented written warning from his bosses last night after being forced to make a series of humiliating apologies for secretly recording telephone calls.
The Guardian reports that a mole hunt will begin to find out who squealed on the boss.
Perhaps they want to promote the leaker to Blair's job for showing initiative.
And The Telegraph says the only cause for regret if he were made to resign now would be that there were so many other, better reasons already why he should have been made to go.
He should have been gone after the Stockwell debacle, and the latest expressions of confidence by the other Blair and Home Secretary Clarke show just as much lack of judgement as that the Met chief regularly displays.
See all recent posts.
Deaths In Iraq.
Fifty bodies have been found in Baghdad in the past 24 hours, including fifteen hands and feet tied, shot in the head and chest, and showing signs of torture.
And four reportedly strung up from electricity pylons in Sadr City.
Meanwhile President Bush, is making a desperate attempt to convince the American people that he is "confident that our strategy will result in victory, and then our troops can come home with the honour they have earned."
Right.
ONE SUNDAY IN IRAQ.
Baghdad, the Shia district of Sadr City, 50 killed and 290 wounded in triple car bombing. Casualties expected to rise.
Also in Baghdad, US forces fighting a fierce battle with Iraqi fighters in a western neighbourhood. US helicopter landed nearby to evacuate casualties. No immediate comment from the US military.
Six Iraqis killed and 13 wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a US army patrol near the airport, on the western outskirts of town. An Iraqi journalist reports one US soldier killed in the attack.
Two civilians killed and six wounded when a mortar shell landed on a house in central Baghdad, and two more civilians hurt when another shell fell in an east Baghdad street.
Three civilians in a car shot dead by unidentified armed men in the south of the capital.
Two newly recruited Iraqi intelligence officers killed while they were driving a car in al-Jamiaa neighbourhood in western Baghdad.
Five Iraqi soldiers wounded when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the centre of town.
Two policemen wounded by a roadside bomb in Dura, in the south of the city.
Two men, one a policeman, shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Duluiya, 75km north of the capital.
ALJAZEERA
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And four reportedly strung up from electricity pylons in Sadr City.
Meanwhile President Bush, is making a desperate attempt to convince the American people that he is "confident that our strategy will result in victory, and then our troops can come home with the honour they have earned."
Right.
ONE SUNDAY IN IRAQ.
Baghdad, the Shia district of Sadr City, 50 killed and 290 wounded in triple car bombing. Casualties expected to rise.
Also in Baghdad, US forces fighting a fierce battle with Iraqi fighters in a western neighbourhood. US helicopter landed nearby to evacuate casualties. No immediate comment from the US military.
Six Iraqis killed and 13 wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a US army patrol near the airport, on the western outskirts of town. An Iraqi journalist reports one US soldier killed in the attack.
Two civilians killed and six wounded when a mortar shell landed on a house in central Baghdad, and two more civilians hurt when another shell fell in an east Baghdad street.
Three civilians in a car shot dead by unidentified armed men in the south of the capital.
Two newly recruited Iraqi intelligence officers killed while they were driving a car in al-Jamiaa neighbourhood in western Baghdad.
Five Iraqi soldiers wounded when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the centre of town.
Two policemen wounded by a roadside bomb in Dura, in the south of the city.
Two men, one a policeman, shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Duluiya, 75km north of the capital.
ALJAZEERA
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MPs Back ID Plans - Again.
MPs have backed government plans to make all passport applicants get an ID card, overturning an earlier defeat in the House of Lords.
Peers have defeated the plans twice, but Home Secretary Charles Clarke said passports were "voluntary documents" that no-one was forced to renew.
The bill will return to the House of Lords on Wednesday.
Blair & Co, like typical snotty, spoilt bairns who think they know it all, just won't listen to those older, wiser and more experienced than themselves.
NO2ID
See all recent posts.
Peers have defeated the plans twice, but Home Secretary Charles Clarke said passports were "voluntary documents" that no-one was forced to renew.
The bill will return to the House of Lords on Wednesday.
Blair & Co, like typical snotty, spoilt bairns who think they know it all, just won't listen to those older, wiser and more experienced than themselves.
NO2ID
See all recent posts.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Lunatics On Mountans.
The atrocious weather we suffered here in Scotland over the weekend was forecast well in advance and severe weather warnings were announced on TV and radio.
In Glasgow, 3,000 people on their weekend night out in the city were stranded.
I have some sympathy for them, as it is rare for our cities in Scotland to grind so firmly to a halt.
I also have sympathy for the woman who had to be airlifted to hospital to give birth to her baby, a journey of four hours involving three vehicles, including the helicopter. She named the wee girl Skye.
And in another emergency, I have every sympathy for the boy in the Shetland Isles who collapsed on Sunday afternoon and had to be rushed to a specialist unit in Edinburgh, which involved a combination of RAF, Navy and air ambulance aircraft, and took from 6pm on Sunday till 5am on Monday in 60mph winds, with poor visibility and a low cloud base.
However, I have only contempt for the smart-assed know-it-alls who decide to "entertain" themselves on Scottish mountains like Ben Nevis, our highest, in winter. And it still is winter here, despite being officially Spring.
These idiots escaped, but many don't.
See all recent posts.
In Glasgow, 3,000 people on their weekend night out in the city were stranded.
I have some sympathy for them, as it is rare for our cities in Scotland to grind so firmly to a halt.
I also have sympathy for the woman who had to be airlifted to hospital to give birth to her baby, a journey of four hours involving three vehicles, including the helicopter. She named the wee girl Skye.
And in another emergency, I have every sympathy for the boy in the Shetland Isles who collapsed on Sunday afternoon and had to be rushed to a specialist unit in Edinburgh, which involved a combination of RAF, Navy and air ambulance aircraft, and took from 6pm on Sunday till 5am on Monday in 60mph winds, with poor visibility and a low cloud base.
However, I have only contempt for the smart-assed know-it-alls who decide to "entertain" themselves on Scottish mountains like Ben Nevis, our highest, in winter. And it still is winter here, despite being officially Spring.
These idiots escaped, but many don't.
See all recent posts.
A Licence To Kill.
Lawyers for the government have advised police chiefs that police who "shoot to kill" suspected suicide bombers would most likely escape criminal charges, even if they killed an innocent and unarmed person.
The documents were prepared for the Metropolitan police Special Branch and chief constables, and they provided the justification for the operation that led to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian, at Stockwell Tube station in London last July.
At the time of the shooting, Scotland Yard’s firearms officers and senior commanders were acting on advice from one of the government’s top lawyers: that they could mount a successful defence to murder or manslaughter charges even if they killed a person who was not carrying a bomb.
Police had been told that they did not have to prove that they had acted reasonably in shooting dead an unarmed person. All they had to show was that they “believed” they were acting reasonably, a much more liberal level of defence.
Since Shoot To Kill Policy. Fit For Purpose Or Fatally Flawed? This weblog, 8 March 06, Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, has said that she has resigned from the review panel set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), which last week declared the guidelines “fit for purpose”. She said: “It was window dressing, the review was a sham.”
---------------------------
Bruce Schneier, security technologist and author, comments on the extremely short-sighted assumption that a terrorist needs to push buttons to make a bomb explode.
---------------------------
Interestingly, police are told to look for people who may be sweating or look “recently clean shaven (with) short hair”. According to the document, suspicious behaviour includes “mumbling, possibly praying, looking anxious, wearing bulky clothing not in keeping with the weather, (and) holding something in the hand/clenched fist; wire or toggle protruding from bag.”
It doesn't take a lot of imagination (something obviously lacking in whoever wrote that advice) to see substantially more deaths of innocents than of suicide bombers, with no come-back on the police, of course, while such policy exists.
See all recent posts.
The documents were prepared for the Metropolitan police Special Branch and chief constables, and they provided the justification for the operation that led to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian, at Stockwell Tube station in London last July.
At the time of the shooting, Scotland Yard’s firearms officers and senior commanders were acting on advice from one of the government’s top lawyers: that they could mount a successful defence to murder or manslaughter charges even if they killed a person who was not carrying a bomb.
Police had been told that they did not have to prove that they had acted reasonably in shooting dead an unarmed person. All they had to show was that they “believed” they were acting reasonably, a much more liberal level of defence.
Since Shoot To Kill Policy. Fit For Purpose Or Fatally Flawed? This weblog, 8 March 06, Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, has said that she has resigned from the review panel set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), which last week declared the guidelines “fit for purpose”. She said: “It was window dressing, the review was a sham.”
---------------------------
Bruce Schneier, security technologist and author, comments on the extremely short-sighted assumption that a terrorist needs to push buttons to make a bomb explode.
---------------------------
Interestingly, police are told to look for people who may be sweating or look “recently clean shaven (with) short hair”. According to the document, suspicious behaviour includes “mumbling, possibly praying, looking anxious, wearing bulky clothing not in keeping with the weather, (and) holding something in the hand/clenched fist; wire or toggle protruding from bag.”
It doesn't take a lot of imagination (something obviously lacking in whoever wrote that advice) to see substantially more deaths of innocents than of suicide bombers, with no come-back on the police, of course, while such policy exists.
See all recent posts.
Dunblane Ten Years On.
Ten years ago today, sixteen young children and a teacher were shot dead by a gunman who entered their school in Dunblane, Scotland, carrying legally licensed weapons.
The Government promised a searchable database of everyone holding a firearm, and all those refused a licence, when it banned pistols in 1997.
Legislation for the register was pushed through Parliament during Tony Blair's first days in office.
Today the register is still not up and running, and trials of the new system by Lancashire and the Metropolitan police, which took place last November, have shown that the software is riddled with bugs.
The police say the register, known as the National Firearms Licensing Management System, is "fundamentally flawed and not fit for purpose."
---------------------------
In a statement to the Scottish Press Association, a spokesman for the victims' families said:
"On the anniversary we will be lighting candles, as we have done every year, and will recall with great affection how so many people in Dunblane and beyond also lit candles on the first anniversary to show that our children and their teacher were not forgotten.
"We hope they will be remembered on this 10th anniversary."
---------------------------
See all recent posts.
The Government promised a searchable database of everyone holding a firearm, and all those refused a licence, when it banned pistols in 1997.
Legislation for the register was pushed through Parliament during Tony Blair's first days in office.
Today the register is still not up and running, and trials of the new system by Lancashire and the Metropolitan police, which took place last November, have shown that the software is riddled with bugs.
The police say the register, known as the National Firearms Licensing Management System, is "fundamentally flawed and not fit for purpose."
---------------------------
In a statement to the Scottish Press Association, a spokesman for the victims' families said:
"On the anniversary we will be lighting candles, as we have done every year, and will recall with great affection how so many people in Dunblane and beyond also lit candles on the first anniversary to show that our children and their teacher were not forgotten.
"We hope they will be remembered on this 10th anniversary."
---------------------------
See all recent posts.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Met Chief Blair In More Bother.
Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Ian Blair secretly recorded a phone conversation with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, and has also admitted taping calls with "senior officials" from the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes by anti-terror police at Stockwell Tube station last July.
A spokesman for the Attorney General confirmed he had not been aware the phone call was being recorded.
Lord Goldsmith is said to be "rather cross" and "somewhat disappointed" at the revelation and is reported to be looking for answers to why Sir Ian took the action he did.
Lord Goldsmith ought to know by now never to trust a policeman, and especially that one.
See all recent posts.
A spokesman for the Attorney General confirmed he had not been aware the phone call was being recorded.
Lord Goldsmith is said to be "rather cross" and "somewhat disappointed" at the revelation and is reported to be looking for answers to why Sir Ian took the action he did.
Lord Goldsmith ought to know by now never to trust a policeman, and especially that one.
See all recent posts.
Recognising Israel Is Up To The People, Say Hamas.
In a draft of its government programme, published on its website, Hamas states: "The question of recognising Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people."
Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said on Sunday that the movement believes that the issue of recognising Israel is one between states and governments, not political parties.
"The recognition of a state should come from a government of a state not from a political party, group or organisation," he said.
"Hamas in particular is not entitled, and it is not its mission, to determine whether Israel is a recognised state or not."
Oh dear, democracy in action in the Middle East, with the possibility of a referendum letting the Palestinian people decide on the issue of Israel's recognition.
Bush and his Israeli pals won't like that.
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Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, said on Sunday that the movement believes that the issue of recognising Israel is one between states and governments, not political parties.
"The recognition of a state should come from a government of a state not from a political party, group or organisation," he said.
"Hamas in particular is not entitled, and it is not its mission, to determine whether Israel is a recognised state or not."
Oh dear, democracy in action in the Middle East, with the possibility of a referendum letting the Palestinian people decide on the issue of Israel's recognition.
Bush and his Israeli pals won't like that.
See all recent posts.
US Troops And "Untermenschen".
An SAS man who tells of seeing "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, and claims they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" - the Nazi term for races regarded as sub-human, has refused to serve again in Iraq and left the army.
Ben Griffin said the "gung-ho and trigger happy mentality had undermined any chance of winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi population, and added that many innocent civilians were arrested in night-time raids and interrogated by Americans, imprisoned in the Abu Ghraib prison, or handed over to the Iraqi authorities and "most probably" tortured.
Griffin told SAS commanders at Hereford that he could not take part in a war which he regarded as "illegal, and that he had not joined the British Army to conduct American foreign policy.
He thought he would be labelled a coward and be forced to face a court martial and imprisonment, but instead was discharged with a testimonial describing him as a "balanced, honest, loyal and determined individual who possesses the strength of character to have the courage of his convictions".
Of course the Ministry of Defence, as usual, declined to comment.
---------------------------
Here in the Telegraph Ben Griffin explains why he has spoken out.
"The Americans had this catch-all approach to lifting suspects. The tactics were draconian and completely ineffective. The Americans were doing things like chucking farmers into Abu Ghraib [the notorious prison in Baghdad where US troops abused and tortured Iraqi detainees] or handing them over to the Iraqi authorities, knowing full well they were going to be tortured.
"The Americans had a well-deserved reputation for being trigger happy. In the three months that I was in Iraq, the soldiers I served with never shot anybody. When you asked the Americans why they killed people, they would say 'we were up against the tough foreign fighters'. I didn't see any foreign fighters in the time I was over there.
"As far as the Americans were concerned, the Iraqi people were sub-human, untermenschen. You could almost split the Americans into two groups: ones who were complete crusaders, intent on killing Iraqis, and the others who were in Iraq because the Army was going to pay their college fees. They had no understanding or interest in the Arab culture. The Americans would talk to the Iraqis as if they were stupid and these weren't isolated cases, this was from the top down. There might be one or two enlightened officers who understood the situation a bit better but on the whole that was their general attitude. Their attitude fuelled the insurgency. I think the Iraqis detested them."
---------------------------
A devastating indictment of the illegal war and inhuman acts being played out in Iraq, and one which should embarrass Tony Blair greatly.
Unfortunately, Blair seems incapable of feeling embarrassment or shame at allowing British troops to be seen as complicit, if only by association, in such disgraceful episodes.
The public and Parliament shouldn't be putting up with this one moment longer.
See all recent posts.
Ben Griffin said the "gung-ho and trigger happy mentality had undermined any chance of winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi population, and added that many innocent civilians were arrested in night-time raids and interrogated by Americans, imprisoned in the Abu Ghraib prison, or handed over to the Iraqi authorities and "most probably" tortured.
Griffin told SAS commanders at Hereford that he could not take part in a war which he regarded as "illegal, and that he had not joined the British Army to conduct American foreign policy.
He thought he would be labelled a coward and be forced to face a court martial and imprisonment, but instead was discharged with a testimonial describing him as a "balanced, honest, loyal and determined individual who possesses the strength of character to have the courage of his convictions".
Of course the Ministry of Defence, as usual, declined to comment.
---------------------------
Here in the Telegraph Ben Griffin explains why he has spoken out.
"The Americans had this catch-all approach to lifting suspects. The tactics were draconian and completely ineffective. The Americans were doing things like chucking farmers into Abu Ghraib [the notorious prison in Baghdad where US troops abused and tortured Iraqi detainees] or handing them over to the Iraqi authorities, knowing full well they were going to be tortured.
"The Americans had a well-deserved reputation for being trigger happy. In the three months that I was in Iraq, the soldiers I served with never shot anybody. When you asked the Americans why they killed people, they would say 'we were up against the tough foreign fighters'. I didn't see any foreign fighters in the time I was over there.
"As far as the Americans were concerned, the Iraqi people were sub-human, untermenschen. You could almost split the Americans into two groups: ones who were complete crusaders, intent on killing Iraqis, and the others who were in Iraq because the Army was going to pay their college fees. They had no understanding or interest in the Arab culture. The Americans would talk to the Iraqis as if they were stupid and these weren't isolated cases, this was from the top down. There might be one or two enlightened officers who understood the situation a bit better but on the whole that was their general attitude. Their attitude fuelled the insurgency. I think the Iraqis detested them."
---------------------------
A devastating indictment of the illegal war and inhuman acts being played out in Iraq, and one which should embarrass Tony Blair greatly.
Unfortunately, Blair seems incapable of feeling embarrassment or shame at allowing British troops to be seen as complicit, if only by association, in such disgraceful episodes.
The public and Parliament shouldn't be putting up with this one moment longer.
See all recent posts.
Iraq A Mess Like The Mess Most Of Us Live In?
"People describe Iraq as a mess," UK foreign office minister Kim Howells told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"But it is a mess that can't launch an attack now on Iran; a mess that won't be able to march into Kuwait; it's a mess that can't develop nuclear weapons. So yes it's a mess but it's starting to look like the sort of mess that most of us live in."
At least he's willing to stand up and state the obvious, unlike the Prime Minister, by admitting Iraq is a mess. But to go on and say that it's starting to look like the sort of mess most of us live in seems a strange comment to say the least.
And while that "mess" indeed cannot launch an attack on Iran, there appear to be plenty "swivel-eyed right-wing Americans" who, along with their Israeli partners in crime, seem anxious enough to carry out such an attack now that the former Iraqi dictatorship can't.
Howells believes civil war has not broken out, and will not break out, and says Iraq's prospects are better than media reports suggest.
A somewhat optimistic and, I hope, not too misguided assessment of what is a grim and depressing situation for the Iraqi people, however he chooses to see it.
---------------------------
Speaking only for the Scottish Highlands, I can report for the benefit of Mr Howells that things have been fairly quiet here for some time now, considering the "sort of mess" he seems to suggest we all live in. The population has plenty clean water (too much of the damned stuff, some would say) and 24 hour electricity. However there was an incident just before noon yesterday when a troop of twenty rookie Marines running for their bus after a training exercise held up traffic on the A82, but none were killed or injured by the queue of impatient motorists behind them.
The last recorded suicide car bombing was last summer when a tourist boiled some water for a cup of tea, using a camping stove which he knocked over, and which subsequently set fire to his camper van.
As for the hostage-taking situation, Mrs McGinty, who's black-faced ram disappeared nearly a month ago, has received a ransom demand for the return of the creature by a previously unknown group calling themselves the Popular Front for Freedom of Dangly Bits Under Highlander's Kilts, threatening mutton casserole and meatballs if all street signs in the region are not converted immediately from English to Gaelic in an effort to further confuse foreign tourists.
With the policy of Joke McConnell, Scotland's First Minister, being that of never dealing with Highlanders, or anyone else for that matter, Mrs McGinty has given up hope of ever seeing her ram again and is presently in pursuit of a new husband.
Finally, civil unrest has been averted after the Loch Ness Monster conceded he is, in fact, a waterlogged elephant, and his existence is not worth arguing about any longer.
See all recent posts.
"But it is a mess that can't launch an attack now on Iran; a mess that won't be able to march into Kuwait; it's a mess that can't develop nuclear weapons. So yes it's a mess but it's starting to look like the sort of mess that most of us live in."
At least he's willing to stand up and state the obvious, unlike the Prime Minister, by admitting Iraq is a mess. But to go on and say that it's starting to look like the sort of mess most of us live in seems a strange comment to say the least.
And while that "mess" indeed cannot launch an attack on Iran, there appear to be plenty "swivel-eyed right-wing Americans" who, along with their Israeli partners in crime, seem anxious enough to carry out such an attack now that the former Iraqi dictatorship can't.
Howells believes civil war has not broken out, and will not break out, and says Iraq's prospects are better than media reports suggest.
A somewhat optimistic and, I hope, not too misguided assessment of what is a grim and depressing situation for the Iraqi people, however he chooses to see it.
---------------------------
Speaking only for the Scottish Highlands, I can report for the benefit of Mr Howells that things have been fairly quiet here for some time now, considering the "sort of mess" he seems to suggest we all live in. The population has plenty clean water (too much of the damned stuff, some would say) and 24 hour electricity. However there was an incident just before noon yesterday when a troop of twenty rookie Marines running for their bus after a training exercise held up traffic on the A82, but none were killed or injured by the queue of impatient motorists behind them.
The last recorded suicide car bombing was last summer when a tourist boiled some water for a cup of tea, using a camping stove which he knocked over, and which subsequently set fire to his camper van.
As for the hostage-taking situation, Mrs McGinty, who's black-faced ram disappeared nearly a month ago, has received a ransom demand for the return of the creature by a previously unknown group calling themselves the Popular Front for Freedom of Dangly Bits Under Highlander's Kilts, threatening mutton casserole and meatballs if all street signs in the region are not converted immediately from English to Gaelic in an effort to further confuse foreign tourists.
With the policy of Joke McConnell, Scotland's First Minister, being that of never dealing with Highlanders, or anyone else for that matter, Mrs McGinty has given up hope of ever seeing her ram again and is presently in pursuit of a new husband.
Finally, civil unrest has been averted after the Loch Ness Monster conceded he is, in fact, a waterlogged elephant, and his existence is not worth arguing about any longer.
See all recent posts.
Blair And The Reliable Replacement Warhead.
Since Tony Blair was re-elected last May, Britain has been secretly designing a new nuclear warhead in conjunction with the Americans, with work at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire apparently ahead of similar US research.
A device using proven components to avoid breaching the ban on nuclear testing, known as the Reliable Replacement Warhead, is being designed so that it can be tested in a laboratory rather than by detonation.
Paul Flynn, a Labour backbencher, insisted there had to be a proper debate. “The Trident missiles will last for another 20 years,” he said. “Who on earth are we going to take on with them anyway? Replacing them wrecks any standing we have when we preach non-proliferation to countries like Iran.”
A report by the Foreign Policy Centre, set up under Blair’s patronage, is to call for Trident to be scrapped and not replaced. The defence select committee will take evidence from experts, most of whom are expected to say that there is no need for a new nuclear deterrent.
Blair is suffering from delusions of grandeur, and seems to see no need for Parliament or debate, while the public and Parliament are sunk in a pit of apathy and just let him get on with whatever he wants.
See all recent posts.
A device using proven components to avoid breaching the ban on nuclear testing, known as the Reliable Replacement Warhead, is being designed so that it can be tested in a laboratory rather than by detonation.
Paul Flynn, a Labour backbencher, insisted there had to be a proper debate. “The Trident missiles will last for another 20 years,” he said. “Who on earth are we going to take on with them anyway? Replacing them wrecks any standing we have when we preach non-proliferation to countries like Iran.”
A report by the Foreign Policy Centre, set up under Blair’s patronage, is to call for Trident to be scrapped and not replaced. The defence select committee will take evidence from experts, most of whom are expected to say that there is no need for a new nuclear deterrent.
Blair is suffering from delusions of grandeur, and seems to see no need for Parliament or debate, while the public and Parliament are sunk in a pit of apathy and just let him get on with whatever he wants.
See all recent posts.
More On Jowell And Mills.
It has emerged that Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary and ex-wife of dodgy lawyer David Mills, has been excluded from Cabinet meetings on Iran since 2003, after Mills allegedly tried to use his wife's position to sell passenger jets to Iran.
Mills wrote to then-foreign office minister Baroness Symons for her advice on the deal after meeting her at a dinner. The letter prompted complaints of cronyism.
The jet deal fell through after the US banned exports to Iran.
Magistrates in Milan are deciding whether to indict Mills and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on corruption charges.
It is alleged Mills was paid a bribe by Berlusconi after giving helpful testimony in court.
See all recent posts.
Mills wrote to then-foreign office minister Baroness Symons for her advice on the deal after meeting her at a dinner. The letter prompted complaints of cronyism.
The jet deal fell through after the US banned exports to Iran.
Magistrates in Milan are deciding whether to indict Mills and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on corruption charges.
It is alleged Mills was paid a bribe by Berlusconi after giving helpful testimony in court.
See all recent posts.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Milosevic Escapes Justice.
Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president who oversaw the bloody carve-up of his country during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, has been found dead in his cell at a UN prison near The Hague.
“It's sad that justice in a way has been cheated. He was the first head of state to be given a trial, he's been given a very fair trial - it's taken an extraordinarily long time," Lord Owen, the former Balkans peace envoy, told the BBC.
So long that he got fed up waiting and signed out.
Reaction In Quotes
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“It's sad that justice in a way has been cheated. He was the first head of state to be given a trial, he's been given a very fair trial - it's taken an extraordinarily long time," Lord Owen, the former Balkans peace envoy, told the BBC.
So long that he got fed up waiting and signed out.
Reaction In Quotes
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Deepcut Deaths Public Enquiry Is Long Overdue.
Jim and Yvonne Collinson have fought long and hard for a public enquiry to investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of their son, Private James Collinson, who was a recruit at the the Deepcut army barracks in England.
James, from Perth in Scotland, was found dead with a single gunshot wound to his head at the camp in Surrey in 2002, where three other young soldiers have died in a similar manner.
Now an inquest jury have returned an open verdict on the death of James, and Surrey coroner Michael Burgess has called for an “inquiry in public” on the matter.
Pete Wishart, Perth and North Perthshire MP, speaking after the open verdict was delivered, said, “In rejecting the suicide verdict, the jury obviously believe that the death of James Collinson was down to other forces and possibly other parties.
“The coroner has said that following this verdict there must now be a full public inquiry into the deaths at Deepcut.
“With even the coroner asking what the MoD are afraid of, it simply shows there is no reason for not securing such an inquiry."
Indeed.
There has always been a bad smell surrounding the tragic events at Deepcut, and the dogged resistance by the establishment to a public enquiry positively stinks.
See all recent posts.
James, from Perth in Scotland, was found dead with a single gunshot wound to his head at the camp in Surrey in 2002, where three other young soldiers have died in a similar manner.
Now an inquest jury have returned an open verdict on the death of James, and Surrey coroner Michael Burgess has called for an “inquiry in public” on the matter.
Pete Wishart, Perth and North Perthshire MP, speaking after the open verdict was delivered, said, “In rejecting the suicide verdict, the jury obviously believe that the death of James Collinson was down to other forces and possibly other parties.
“The coroner has said that following this verdict there must now be a full public inquiry into the deaths at Deepcut.
“With even the coroner asking what the MoD are afraid of, it simply shows there is no reason for not securing such an inquiry."
Indeed.
There has always been a bad smell surrounding the tragic events at Deepcut, and the dogged resistance by the establishment to a public enquiry positively stinks.
See all recent posts.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Who Are The Terrorists Here?
The plans by Israel's acting prime minister to unilaterally redraw Israel's borders on the West Bank has been described by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal as tantamount to a "declaration of war".
Ehud Olmert says that he wants to impose a border in the West Bank, build a wall and move many Jewish settlers to the Israeli side, and has threatened to assassinate the incoming Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, if he is involved in terrorism.
"Anyone who is involved in planning terror attacks will be a legitimate target for liquidation," he told the Yediot Ahronot daily.
Israeli politicians, in their language and actions, are behaving like terrorists in their own right, and being democratically elected is no excuse.
See all recent posts.
Ehud Olmert says that he wants to impose a border in the West Bank, build a wall and move many Jewish settlers to the Israeli side, and has threatened to assassinate the incoming Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, if he is involved in terrorism.
"Anyone who is involved in planning terror attacks will be a legitimate target for liquidation," he told the Yediot Ahronot daily.
Israeli politicians, in their language and actions, are behaving like terrorists in their own right, and being democratically elected is no excuse.
See all recent posts.
A Wee Hint For Cheney?
Thursday, March 09, 2006
McDonald's Hospital.
Raigmore Hospital serves the whole of the Highlands of Scotland and is possibly the last place on earth I would want to be treated for any medical complaint, serious or otherwise, preferring, should the case ever arise, to be airlifted to the nearest butcher or veterinary practice.
Nothing personal, of course. I just think the place sucks. I have heard too many disturbing stories about what they manage to inflict on their poor patients, some of which I have written about on other pages within this blog.
Now it has been discovered that the staff of this establishment have been fattening up young victims, presumably to guarantee further custom for the hospital, by dishing out McDonalds vouchers for hearty meals of salt, sugar and fat, for kiddies who have "been brave" when receiving treatment.
In my humble opinion, a medal for gallantry would be more appropriate.
Highland National Health Service chairman Garry Coutts said: "As soon as it was raised with senior managers and directors it was stopped and I would like to thank those people who brought it to our attention."
According to this, Coutts was appointed in 2004, at an annual remuneration of around £26,585 for a three day week, for this "important new appointment."
A nice little earner for being not very well informed.
See all recent posts.
Nothing personal, of course. I just think the place sucks. I have heard too many disturbing stories about what they manage to inflict on their poor patients, some of which I have written about on other pages within this blog.
Now it has been discovered that the staff of this establishment have been fattening up young victims, presumably to guarantee further custom for the hospital, by dishing out McDonalds vouchers for hearty meals of salt, sugar and fat, for kiddies who have "been brave" when receiving treatment.
In my humble opinion, a medal for gallantry would be more appropriate.
Highland National Health Service chairman Garry Coutts said: "As soon as it was raised with senior managers and directors it was stopped and I would like to thank those people who brought it to our attention."
According to this, Coutts was appointed in 2004, at an annual remuneration of around £26,585 for a three day week, for this "important new appointment."
A nice little earner for being not very well informed.
See all recent posts.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Israel's Disgrace Exposed.
We are trying to have
Israeli society look in the mirror and say....... 'We cannot go on like this, controlling two million people.......
Our face has become very ugly.' .........Esri Tsai of Machsom Watch.
The ugly face of Israeli checkpoints.
Endless Checkpoints, an exhibition at the College
of Geographic Photography in the southern suburbs
of Tel Aviv, was put together by the 400 women of
Machsom Watch, an Israeli activist group who
have maintained a daily presence at checkpoints,
to protest, to witness, and to to monitor the West
Bank checkpoints.
Their aim is to make Israeli society aware of
the daily humiliation, the hopelessness, the hardships
and the suffering that are a routine part of life in the
occupied territories.
"We want to highlight the violence, the moral deterioration, the lack of free movement, the persecution and violation of the Palestinians' most fundamental human rights," says Esti Tsai.
The exhibition's location is on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. "For more than a year, we were looking for a space in central Tel Aviv that everybody could reach," says Tsal. " Unfortunately, we got a big 'No' from many galleries and commercial spaces we approached."
Admirable women indeed.
See all recent posts.
Shoot To Kill Policy. Fit For Purpose Or Fatally Flawed?
Following the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Association of Chief Police Officers has said the shoot to kill policy need not change, but has called for a leaflet to explain the tactics more clearly to the public.
---------------------------
One of the architects of the policy, Chief Constable Barbara Wilding, said that it did not plan for the events that led to the shooting of the innocent man.
She said that it dealt with two restricted scenarios.
A spontaneous event in which a potential suicide bomber was identified and there was no prior intelligence; and potential attacks on specific targets where there was detailed intelligence and police had time to put tactics in place.
She said it was not prepared for an intelligence gathering operation turning into a live and mobile threat.
---------------------------
In a statement, lawyers for the de Menezes family said police had secretly introduced a "shoot-to-kill" policy without any democratic debate.
"Now Acpo seeks to reinstate the secret policy publicly before any inquiry into the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes is completed, confident that police can hide behind the claim that a criminal investigation is still under way."
---------------------------
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Metropolitan police travelled to Israel, Russia and Sri Lanka to learn how to deal with possible suicide attackers.
Do officers actually have to see a suicide jacket, or what they think may be a suicide jacket, before they open fire. "No," said Chief Inspector Martin Rush, who runs the Met's firearms training centre at Gravesend,
This is not the case in Israel, where suicide bombers have been a fact of life for years. Major General Mickey Levy, the police commander in Jerusalem from 2000 to 2004, who dealt with 42 suicide bombers in his time, said his officers had to be sure they could see a suicide vest or explosives before they opened fire. In the vast majority of cases the suspects they confronted were indeed suicide bombers because the intelligence built up over so many years was so good. The Israelis stop roughly nine out of 10 suicide bombers before they can detonate their payloads.
---------------------------
It is unclear to me whether our police will now have to see the potential suicide bomber's explosives before executing him or her, but I'm sure we will all be much happier about being shot seven times in the head if we get a little leaflet explaining why.
See all recent posts.
---------------------------
One of the architects of the policy, Chief Constable Barbara Wilding, said that it did not plan for the events that led to the shooting of the innocent man.
She said that it dealt with two restricted scenarios.
A spontaneous event in which a potential suicide bomber was identified and there was no prior intelligence; and potential attacks on specific targets where there was detailed intelligence and police had time to put tactics in place.
She said it was not prepared for an intelligence gathering operation turning into a live and mobile threat.
---------------------------
In a statement, lawyers for the de Menezes family said police had secretly introduced a "shoot-to-kill" policy without any democratic debate.
"Now Acpo seeks to reinstate the secret policy publicly before any inquiry into the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes is completed, confident that police can hide behind the claim that a criminal investigation is still under way."
---------------------------
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Metropolitan police travelled to Israel, Russia and Sri Lanka to learn how to deal with possible suicide attackers.
Do officers actually have to see a suicide jacket, or what they think may be a suicide jacket, before they open fire. "No," said Chief Inspector Martin Rush, who runs the Met's firearms training centre at Gravesend,
This is not the case in Israel, where suicide bombers have been a fact of life for years. Major General Mickey Levy, the police commander in Jerusalem from 2000 to 2004, who dealt with 42 suicide bombers in his time, said his officers had to be sure they could see a suicide vest or explosives before they opened fire. In the vast majority of cases the suspects they confronted were indeed suicide bombers because the intelligence built up over so many years was so good. The Israelis stop roughly nine out of 10 suicide bombers before they can detonate their payloads.
---------------------------
It is unclear to me whether our police will now have to see the potential suicide bomber's explosives before executing him or her, but I'm sure we will all be much happier about being shot seven times in the head if we get a little leaflet explaining why.
See all recent posts.
South Dakota Reverts To The Dark Ages.
SOUTH DAKOTA's new law to ban abortion, would punish doctors terminating pregnancies with up to five years in jail.
The only exception to the law would be if the woman's life was in danger.
A victim of rape and incest would be denied a termination of her pregnancy, presumably being told to bring up baby like a good little woman.
How cruel and primitive.
See all recent posts.
The only exception to the law would be if the woman's life was in danger.
A victim of rape and incest would be denied a termination of her pregnancy, presumably being told to bring up baby like a good little woman.
How cruel and primitive.
See all recent posts.
New Questions For Jowell.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell earlier this week denied that her husband, David Mills, had ever owned shares in a pub chain that earned him £67,000.
Italian prosecutors have now released letters suggesting a company owned by Mills did indeed own the shares.
Tory MP Nigel Evans said: "This is a declarable interest that should have been declared in the register of members' interests. It doesn't matter at the end of the day that his name wasn't on the share ownership. If it was on the company that owned the shares and he benefited from the profit then clearly they were declarable."
A decision by Magistrates in Milan is expected soon on whether Mills, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, will be put on trial for corruption.
Seems like Tessa isn't quite off the hook yet.
See all recent posts.
Italian prosecutors have now released letters suggesting a company owned by Mills did indeed own the shares.
Tory MP Nigel Evans said: "This is a declarable interest that should have been declared in the register of members' interests. It doesn't matter at the end of the day that his name wasn't on the share ownership. If it was on the company that owned the shares and he benefited from the profit then clearly they were declarable."
A decision by Magistrates in Milan is expected soon on whether Mills, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, will be put on trial for corruption.
Seems like Tessa isn't quite off the hook yet.
See all recent posts.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Jowell Is Not Off The Hook.
Despite the show of support from Labour MPs during Tessa Jowell's departmental question time yesterday, and the assertion by Home Secretary Charles Clarke today that the Culture Secretary is now 'out of the woods,' events in the days ahead may make Clark's statement look more like wishful thinking than fact.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards may have cleared Jowell of wrongdoing, but I doubt very much that the public, and the press, who were accused of conducting a witch-hunt by MPs who support Jowell, are going to suddenly agree that nothing is amiss.
Certainly it asking a lot of anyone to believe that a supposedly intelligent woman, in government, a minister in the cabinet no less, new absolutely zero about the financial affairs of her husband, signed documents for him involving large amounts of money without as much as being mildly curious about what he was up to, and limited her part in the marriage simply to sharing his wealth and living a life of luxury.
She undoubtedly knew that David Mills made the money she helped to spend by assisting rich people avoid their taxes, which are set by the government she is a member of and, the legal niceties aside, few ordinary people are spared the crippling taxes they pay out of modest earnings.
They don't like seeing a privileged few getting away with it, and rightly so.
See all recent posts.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards may have cleared Jowell of wrongdoing, but I doubt very much that the public, and the press, who were accused of conducting a witch-hunt by MPs who support Jowell, are going to suddenly agree that nothing is amiss.
Certainly it asking a lot of anyone to believe that a supposedly intelligent woman, in government, a minister in the cabinet no less, new absolutely zero about the financial affairs of her husband, signed documents for him involving large amounts of money without as much as being mildly curious about what he was up to, and limited her part in the marriage simply to sharing his wealth and living a life of luxury.
She undoubtedly knew that David Mills made the money she helped to spend by assisting rich people avoid their taxes, which are set by the government she is a member of and, the legal niceties aside, few ordinary people are spared the crippling taxes they pay out of modest earnings.
They don't like seeing a privileged few getting away with it, and rightly so.
See all recent posts.
Kinky In Texas.
...Kinky says....... "Why the Hell Not."
Living at the ass-end-of-nowhere here in north-west Scotland doesn't entitle me to a vote in Texas, but I already have my fingers crossed for Kinky Friedman, candidate for governor.
Anyone who can come away with lines such as, "I'm gonna de-wussify Texas if I have to do it one wuss at a time," or, on his support for gay marriage, "they have every right to be as miserable as the rest of us," deserves success.
I think, personally, he's the man for Washington and the White House - he's a better joker than the one presently in residence.
And the world would doubtless be a happier and safer with President Kinky.
See all recent posts.
US Teacher Suspended For Having A Mind.
A HIGH-SCHOOL geography teacher in Colorado has been put on leave after a pupil recorded him comparing George Bush to Hitler.
The 16 year old at a school outside Denver has made headlines all over the US by recording the teacher lambasting George Bush.
After he finished airing his opinion the teacher told pupils that they were free to disagree with him.
The boy’s father later leaked the recording to a local radio and it was picked up by the national media.
The use of micro-recording devices in mobile phones or MP3 players is the latest twist in conservatives’ struggle against what they see as the leftist slant of American education.
They're desperate people if they have to resort to disgusting tactics like that, and setting quite an example to their kids.
Right-wing indoctrination by parents. Quashing free speech and encouraging children to spy and inform on those that educate them is going to produce some scary next generation.
Hitler Youth reincarnated.
Ideal for carving out a nice little future career as Guantanamo guards and interrogators, but never a way to turn out well-rounded and open-minded individuals.
See all recent posts.
The 16 year old at a school outside Denver has made headlines all over the US by recording the teacher lambasting George Bush.
After he finished airing his opinion the teacher told pupils that they were free to disagree with him.
The boy’s father later leaked the recording to a local radio and it was picked up by the national media.
The use of micro-recording devices in mobile phones or MP3 players is the latest twist in conservatives’ struggle against what they see as the leftist slant of American education.
They're desperate people if they have to resort to disgusting tactics like that, and setting quite an example to their kids.
Right-wing indoctrination by parents. Quashing free speech and encouraging children to spy and inform on those that educate them is going to produce some scary next generation.
Hitler Youth reincarnated.
Ideal for carving out a nice little future career as Guantanamo guards and interrogators, but never a way to turn out well-rounded and open-minded individuals.
See all recent posts.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Iraq Abuses Continue.
Amnesty International say that the lessons of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal have been ignored, as reports of torture continue to "pour out of Iraq".
Former prisoners say they were beaten with plastic cables, given electric shocks and made to stand in a flooded room as an electrical current was passed through the water.
The 48 page report by Amnesty states that thousands of Iraqis are being held without charge or trial, that over 200 detainees have been held for over two years, and nearly 4,000 for over a year.
I don't doubt it.
See all recent posts.
Former prisoners say they were beaten with plastic cables, given electric shocks and made to stand in a flooded room as an electrical current was passed through the water.
The 48 page report by Amnesty states that thousands of Iraqis are being held without charge or trial, that over 200 detainees have been held for over two years, and nearly 4,000 for over a year.
I don't doubt it.
See all recent posts.
Nessie Is Nellie, The Loch Ness Elephant.
Dr Neil Clark, curator of palaeontology at Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum, who has spent two years investigating the myth that is the Loch Ness Monster, has suggested that the idea for Nessie was dreamt up as a “magnificent piece of marketing” by a circus impresario after he saw one of his elephants bathing in the loch.
He said: “Most sightings occurred after 1933, when the A82 trunk road was completed along the west of Loch Ness. All we have are eyewitness accounts, fuzzy photographs, distant video footage and proven hoaxes.
"Circus fairs visiting Inverness used to stop on the A82 along the banks of Loch Ness to allow their animals to rest.
“When their elephants were allowed to swim in the loch, only the trunk and two humps could be seen: the first hump being the top of the head and the second being the back of the animal.
“Although most can be explained by floating logs or waves, there are a number of unexplained sightings of a creature — elephant grey, with a long neck and humped back — particularly from 1933".
At last. Somebody intelligent, with no vested interest in ripping off gullible tourists, has come up with a sensible, logical and sane explanation for the biggest load of successful marketing shite - sorry, hype - in the Highlands.
Unfortunately, tourists won't believe him, preferring to fall for the word of the wee man behind the counter of the tourist shop in Drumnadrochit who says he's seen the monster with his very own eyes, and only last week, too. Honest.
And by the way. For all the dafties that still want to come to see Nessie....... the elephant, just a footnote to say that the A82 hasn't been upgraded since they built it for the bloody elephants and the only three cars in Britain in 1933.
It's the worst road in Scotland, and it's lethal.
See all recent posts.
He said: “Most sightings occurred after 1933, when the A82 trunk road was completed along the west of Loch Ness. All we have are eyewitness accounts, fuzzy photographs, distant video footage and proven hoaxes.
"Circus fairs visiting Inverness used to stop on the A82 along the banks of Loch Ness to allow their animals to rest.
“When their elephants were allowed to swim in the loch, only the trunk and two humps could be seen: the first hump being the top of the head and the second being the back of the animal.
“Although most can be explained by floating logs or waves, there are a number of unexplained sightings of a creature — elephant grey, with a long neck and humped back — particularly from 1933".
At last. Somebody intelligent, with no vested interest in ripping off gullible tourists, has come up with a sensible, logical and sane explanation for the biggest load of successful marketing shite - sorry, hype - in the Highlands.
Unfortunately, tourists won't believe him, preferring to fall for the word of the wee man behind the counter of the tourist shop in Drumnadrochit who says he's seen the monster with his very own eyes, and only last week, too. Honest.
And by the way. For all the dafties that still want to come to see Nessie....... the elephant, just a footnote to say that the A82 hasn't been upgraded since they built it for the bloody elephants and the only three cars in Britain in 1933.
It's the worst road in Scotland, and it's lethal.
See all recent posts.
Be A Good Citizen. Snitch On A Minister Or Lawyer.
The New Labour government have, for some time now, actively encouraged the public to inform on each other for things such as benefit fraud and tax evasion, pointing out that cheats cost the taxpayer money.
Of course, benefit and tax fraud by those targeted, such as the poor and unemployed, is a mere drop in the ocean compared to the tax avoidance scams of those in business and positions of power and, given the suspect circumstances surrounding Tessa Jowell and her conveniently dumped husband David Mills, Truth Seeker at the excellent Logical Voice helpfully supplies the details required by anyone who wishes to report their suspicions.
See all recent posts.
Of course, benefit and tax fraud by those targeted, such as the poor and unemployed, is a mere drop in the ocean compared to the tax avoidance scams of those in business and positions of power and, given the suspect circumstances surrounding Tessa Jowell and her conveniently dumped husband David Mills, Truth Seeker at the excellent Logical Voice helpfully supplies the details required by anyone who wishes to report their suspicions.
See all recent posts.
Hamas Rejects Al Qaeda's Advice.
Hamas have moved swiftly to respond to the video message by al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri urging the Palestinian group to continue to fight Israel.
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal said the movement had "its own vision" and did not need al-Qaeda's advice.
See all recent posts.
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal said the movement had "its own vision" and did not need al-Qaeda's advice.
See all recent posts.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Why Americans Don't Know The First Amendment Freedoms.
A study which found that only one in a thousand American people could name all five First Amendment freedoms surprised me somewhat.
For an interesting and analytical (extremely amusing) observation on why this is, I can do no better than to refer you to Tropical Blues.
See all recent posts.
For an interesting and analytical (extremely amusing) observation on why this is, I can do no better than to refer you to Tropical Blues.
See all recent posts.
Blair, Religion, War And Haggis.
Anxious as I was yesterday to comment unfavourably about Tony Blair and his assertion that he will be judged by God and history over his Iraq war decisions, I decided to wait until I had watched his interview on the Parkinson show before writing anything.
Unfortunately I fell asleep and missed the whole damned thing!
Suffice to say I think the man has gone doo-wally, and bringing a ficticious God into the argument is a cop-out, tantamount to an abdication of his responsibility, an attempt at writing a get-out clause.
One of the few great things about the British political system in this country - up till now - has been the unwritten rule that religion has little part to play in political decision-making, and to discover that the government took us to war, an illegal war at that, even partly on the basis of one man's religious beliefs, is disturbing to say the least.
Indeed, all the more disturbing given the outrageous "crusade" comment by that other religious fruitcake in Washington who Blair, with poodle-like devotion, would seem to want to emulate right down to the last detail, even to possibly being considered a war criminal.
Maybe it was better I fell asleep. I woke up at midnight, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and caused something of an international incident of my own, arguing with a lovely lady in the USA about....... Haggis.
Don't ask.
See all recent posts.
Unfortunately I fell asleep and missed the whole damned thing!
Suffice to say I think the man has gone doo-wally, and bringing a ficticious God into the argument is a cop-out, tantamount to an abdication of his responsibility, an attempt at writing a get-out clause.
One of the few great things about the British political system in this country - up till now - has been the unwritten rule that religion has little part to play in political decision-making, and to discover that the government took us to war, an illegal war at that, even partly on the basis of one man's religious beliefs, is disturbing to say the least.
Indeed, all the more disturbing given the outrageous "crusade" comment by that other religious fruitcake in Washington who Blair, with poodle-like devotion, would seem to want to emulate right down to the last detail, even to possibly being considered a war criminal.
Maybe it was better I fell asleep. I woke up at midnight, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and caused something of an international incident of my own, arguing with a lovely lady in the USA about....... Haggis.
Don't ask.
See all recent posts.
al-Zawiri's Curtains Are A Public Relations Disaster.
The latest party political broadcast by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaida's deputy leader, urging Hamas to "continue the armed struggle" with Israel, is predictable in it's message, one which Hamas would be wise to ignore if they truly desire international recognition.
The most striking and, indeed worrying thing about the video, however, which shows al-Zawahiri sitting in front of a window, is his curtains.
They're so....... well, y'know....... 1950s!
The last time I came across net curtains like that I was probably sitting opposite my now long dead Grannie getting a lecture on the dangers of girls, and being advised to stay single and free and never to let any wanton hussy trap me into marriage.
In fact, when I think about it, the fearsome Al-Qaida veep rather reminds me of my Grannie - minus the beard, of course, but with the moustache - sitting there with her best Sunday hat on, wagging a finger at me and telling me to get a haircut in between peering through the net curtains every two minutes to see what the neighbors were up to, or what the postman was bringing to Mrs McGinty at number 59 opposite and whether she would answer the door wearing her wee nylon nightie - the brazen hussy!
At least my Grannie's nets were clean and didn't sag in the middle.
And I never did listen to her advice about girls - I was so busy hating her curtains I'm on my third marriage.
See al-Zawahiri's curtains on the BBC.
See all recent posts.
The most striking and, indeed worrying thing about the video, however, which shows al-Zawahiri sitting in front of a window, is his curtains.
They're so....... well, y'know....... 1950s!
The last time I came across net curtains like that I was probably sitting opposite my now long dead Grannie getting a lecture on the dangers of girls, and being advised to stay single and free and never to let any wanton hussy trap me into marriage.
In fact, when I think about it, the fearsome Al-Qaida veep rather reminds me of my Grannie - minus the beard, of course, but with the moustache - sitting there with her best Sunday hat on, wagging a finger at me and telling me to get a haircut in between peering through the net curtains every two minutes to see what the neighbors were up to, or what the postman was bringing to Mrs McGinty at number 59 opposite and whether she would answer the door wearing her wee nylon nightie - the brazen hussy!
At least my Grannie's nets were clean and didn't sag in the middle.
And I never did listen to her advice about girls - I was so busy hating her curtains I'm on my third marriage.
See al-Zawahiri's curtains on the BBC.
See all recent posts.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Jowell, A Separation Of Convenience?
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is to separate from her husband David Mills as questions over her involvement in his finances continue.
Jowell's husband, David Mills, a corporate lawyer, is facing accusations in Italy that he received a £350,000 bribe in 2000 from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over evidence he gave in a court case against him which, of course, Mills denies.
Mills lawyer said in a statement announcing the separation: "They hope over time their relationship can be restored, but, given the current circumstances, they have agreed to a period of separation."
After the "whitewash" that has already taken place to try to save Jowell's job looks increasingly likely to fail, am I being too cynical in suggesting we are seeing "Whitewash Plan B" in operation now?
With a lovely, romantic, "surprise" reconciliation taking place, by coincidence of course, just after the heat on Jowell dies down - if her hubby manages to stay out of jail, that is.
See all recent posts.
Jowell's husband, David Mills, a corporate lawyer, is facing accusations in Italy that he received a £350,000 bribe in 2000 from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over evidence he gave in a court case against him which, of course, Mills denies.
Mills lawyer said in a statement announcing the separation: "They hope over time their relationship can be restored, but, given the current circumstances, they have agreed to a period of separation."
After the "whitewash" that has already taken place to try to save Jowell's job looks increasingly likely to fail, am I being too cynical in suggesting we are seeing "Whitewash Plan B" in operation now?
With a lovely, romantic, "surprise" reconciliation taking place, by coincidence of course, just after the heat on Jowell dies down - if her hubby manages to stay out of jail, that is.
See all recent posts.
By Golly, Can You Believe This?
West Mercia police, acting under Tony Blair's new and controversial incitement to slightly offend anything or anybody including a stray dog legislation, carried out a daring raid on a shop window, where three arrests were made, the suspects then being held for three weeks under the new 21 days detention without charge laws.
The three detained, all Gollywoggs from Pettifer’s hardware and general store in Bromyard, Herefordshire, were eventually released without charge due to lack of sufficient evidence to link them to subversive Gollywogg groups who, the government and a mentally deficient member of the public say, are the greatest threat to our democracy in these times.
The Three Gollywoggs are now understood to be considering legal action against the police, alleging they had been discriminated against because of the colour of their fabric, given nothing to eat or drink during their incarceration, and abused by officers who dragged them around the police station by their arms and forced them to sit on a high shelf in a cell.
See all recent posts.
The three detained, all Gollywoggs from Pettifer’s hardware and general store in Bromyard, Herefordshire, were eventually released without charge due to lack of sufficient evidence to link them to subversive Gollywogg groups who, the government and a mentally deficient member of the public say, are the greatest threat to our democracy in these times.
The Three Gollywoggs are now understood to be considering legal action against the police, alleging they had been discriminated against because of the colour of their fabric, given nothing to eat or drink during their incarceration, and abused by officers who dragged them around the police station by their arms and forced them to sit on a high shelf in a cell.
See all recent posts.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Hamas In Moscow.
Hamas officials have arrived in Russia for their first talks with a major foreign power and reaffirmed their refusal to recognise Israel.
Despite being a blow to US-led efforts to isolate Hamas, and Israel not being too amused at Moscow, talking, no matter how difficult, is undoubtedly the only way the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is ever going to be resolved.
The recognition of Hamas as a democratically elected government, the possibility of an end to the killing by means of a long-term ceasefire (Hamas has already maintained a cease-fire for over a year) and the return of land rightly belonging to the Palestinians, is surely the first step in persuading Hamas to accept its neighbors, rather than the "written in tablets of stone" demand by the US/Israel that Israel must be recognized before anything can happen.
An uncomfortable co-existence is better than no existence.
South Africa has now joined the growing list of countries inviting Hamas leaders for talks, raising Israeli concerns that the international front against the movement is crumbling.
Moscow risks anger over Hamas visit
See all recent posts.
Despite being a blow to US-led efforts to isolate Hamas, and Israel not being too amused at Moscow, talking, no matter how difficult, is undoubtedly the only way the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is ever going to be resolved.
The recognition of Hamas as a democratically elected government, the possibility of an end to the killing by means of a long-term ceasefire (Hamas has already maintained a cease-fire for over a year) and the return of land rightly belonging to the Palestinians, is surely the first step in persuading Hamas to accept its neighbors, rather than the "written in tablets of stone" demand by the US/Israel that Israel must be recognized before anything can happen.
An uncomfortable co-existence is better than no existence.
South Africa has now joined the growing list of countries inviting Hamas leaders for talks, raising Israeli concerns that the international front against the movement is crumbling.
Moscow risks anger over Hamas visit
See all recent posts.
Who Will Tell Our Stories? Nobody, Says US State Department.
April 5, 2003... Baghdad... Intense fighting in the neighborhood where Vivian Salim and her family lived... She and her husband Izzat grabbed their three children and jumped into the car, trying to escape... Crossed paths with a U.S. tank... Shooting straight at the car...
"I saw the bullets enter my children's heads," she said. "My son was sitting right next to me when the bullet went through his forehead. One minute I was a mother, a wife with a family; the next minute my family was gone."
The soldiers ordered Vivian to leave, and to leave her family's bullet-ridden bodies behind. "After a week of pleading with the Americans, they finally gave the bodies back to us. We took them to the church where we washed them, prayed for them, and then buried them."
A delegation of Iraqi women who lost family members during the invasion want to visit the US - The State Department says no way.
Vivian is one of a group of Iraqi women invited by women's peace group CODEPINK to visit the US to tell their stories and call for an end to the war, but she has been refused a visa to enter the United States because she does not have "sufficient family ties that would compel her to return."
Another widow, Anwar Kadhim Jawad, whose husband and three children were killed by US soldiers at an unmarked checkpoint, was refused entry for the same reason.
If it wasn't so disgusting I might be able to raise a little smile at the thought of the most powerful "free and democratic" nation on earth being scared of two ladies from Iraq lest they say something the White House Junta don't want the people to hear.
See all recent posts.
"I saw the bullets enter my children's heads," she said. "My son was sitting right next to me when the bullet went through his forehead. One minute I was a mother, a wife with a family; the next minute my family was gone."
The soldiers ordered Vivian to leave, and to leave her family's bullet-ridden bodies behind. "After a week of pleading with the Americans, they finally gave the bodies back to us. We took them to the church where we washed them, prayed for them, and then buried them."
A delegation of Iraqi women who lost family members during the invasion want to visit the US - The State Department says no way.
Vivian is one of a group of Iraqi women invited by women's peace group CODEPINK to visit the US to tell their stories and call for an end to the war, but she has been refused a visa to enter the United States because she does not have "sufficient family ties that would compel her to return."
Another widow, Anwar Kadhim Jawad, whose husband and three children were killed by US soldiers at an unmarked checkpoint, was refused entry for the same reason.
If it wasn't so disgusting I might be able to raise a little smile at the thought of the most powerful "free and democratic" nation on earth being scared of two ladies from Iraq lest they say something the White House Junta don't want the people to hear.
See all recent posts.
Wooden Beam Fails To Hit Tories In Scottish Parliament.
Proceedings at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh were abandoned yesterday when a large wooden roof beam swung loose in the debating chamber, immediately above the seats where the Conservative MSPs sit.
First Minister Jack McConnell, visibly shaken, immediately ordered a public enquiry to investigate why the beam missed Annabel Goldie, the leader of the Conservatives.
He then postponed First Minister's questions, muttering that after receiving a sign from above he didn't have to answer anybody's daft questions any more and was going home.
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First Minister Jack McConnell, visibly shaken, immediately ordered a public enquiry to investigate why the beam missed Annabel Goldie, the leader of the Conservatives.
He then postponed First Minister's questions, muttering that after receiving a sign from above he didn't have to answer anybody's daft questions any more and was going home.
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Thursday, March 02, 2006
Tzipi Livni Won't Go Hungry In London.
...It's like an appointment with a dietician....... The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but they won't die.
The Hamas team had not laughed so much in a long
time. The team, headed by the prime minister's advisor Dov Weissglas and including the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, the director of the Shin Bet and senior generals and officials, convened for a discussion with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on ways to respond to the Hamas election victory. Everyone agreed on the need to impose an economic siege on the Palestinian Authority, and Weissglas, as usual, provided the punch line: "It's like an appointment with a dietician. The Palestinians will get a lot thinner, but won't die,"
the advisor joked, and the participants reportedly rolled with laughter. And, indeed, why not break into laughter and relax when hearing such a successful joke? If Weissglas tells the joke to his friend Condoleezza Rice, she would surely laugh too.
So today Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni comes to London with the campaign to destabilise the Hamas Palestinian government by starving it of cash.
The policy of starving 3.6 million people to punish them for taking part in a democratic election is the work of a regime which is Nazi-like in it's methods.
The inhumanity, lawlessness and sheer wickedness of the Israeli State is almost unbelievable and should simply not be tolerated.
The Independent reports that the policy has left London feeling squeamish, but that Tony Blair and Jack Straw will today undoubtedly show solidarity with Israel, saying Britain is not in the business of funding terrorists, while in private there is anguish about the policy.
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Poll Of US Military Reveals Appalling Facts.
A poll of US troops in Iraq shows 72% are of the opinion that the war should be ended in 2006, with only one in five agreeing with Bush’s call to “stay as long as they are needed.”
29% of the respondents said the US should leave Iraq “immediately, while another 22% said they should leave within six months.
While these are interesting findings in themselves, the poll goes on to give statistics on the different attitudes and views held by various branches of the armed forces - reservists, marines, National Guard, etc. - when asked the same question.
Overall the Le Moyne College/Zogby Poll suggests that here is an army somewhat lacking in morale and a clear sense of purpose, and generally wondering what the Hell they are doing there or, if they do think they know why they are there, being completely wrong.
And this is the shocking bit.
An incredible 85% think they are in Iraq mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9/11 attacks,” and 77% also believe the main reason for the war was “to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq.”
While most thinking people know that the ordinary ranks of the military ( and I am not singling out the US ones here - I mean from any country) are not known for being the brightest buttons in the box, it is astounding to think that the troops stationed in Iraq can still believe, five years after 9/11, five years down the line of scandal and lies from Bush and his insane sidekicks in the White House, that Saddam had anything to do with the New York attack or al Qaeda.
A great many brainwashed boys and girls, it would seem, are being killed under false pretences, dying believing that they have done something useful, even honourable in Iraq while, in fact, unwittingly doing little more than satisfying the megalomania of their “Commander and Chief” and whatever warped, self-seeking aims he is pursuing.
While the dead will never learn the facts, those maimed will have the rest of their limbless lives to reflect on the truth as it comes out.
But by then it is too late.
See all recent posts.
29% of the respondents said the US should leave Iraq “immediately, while another 22% said they should leave within six months.
While these are interesting findings in themselves, the poll goes on to give statistics on the different attitudes and views held by various branches of the armed forces - reservists, marines, National Guard, etc. - when asked the same question.
Overall the Le Moyne College/Zogby Poll suggests that here is an army somewhat lacking in morale and a clear sense of purpose, and generally wondering what the Hell they are doing there or, if they do think they know why they are there, being completely wrong.
And this is the shocking bit.
An incredible 85% think they are in Iraq mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9/11 attacks,” and 77% also believe the main reason for the war was “to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq.”
While most thinking people know that the ordinary ranks of the military ( and I am not singling out the US ones here - I mean from any country) are not known for being the brightest buttons in the box, it is astounding to think that the troops stationed in Iraq can still believe, five years after 9/11, five years down the line of scandal and lies from Bush and his insane sidekicks in the White House, that Saddam had anything to do with the New York attack or al Qaeda.
A great many brainwashed boys and girls, it would seem, are being killed under false pretences, dying believing that they have done something useful, even honourable in Iraq while, in fact, unwittingly doing little more than satisfying the megalomania of their “Commander and Chief” and whatever warped, self-seeking aims he is pursuing.
While the dead will never learn the facts, those maimed will have the rest of their limbless lives to reflect on the truth as it comes out.
But by then it is too late.
See all recent posts.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The Message Blair Doesn't Want To Hear.
An official spokesman for Tony Blair said yesterday that the prime minister was "sadly aware" of the deaths of yet two more British soldiers in southern Iraq.
Undoubtedly Blair will also be "sadly aware" that many of the grieving relatives of the 103 British servicemen killed there have had enough of his repeated refusals to meet with them face to face to defend his policies on the war.
And "sadly aware" that the families have written an open letter to him, published today on the front page of The Independent and that, while being given permission to hand in the letter to 10 Downing Street today, the time for its delivery was set for noon - when Blair would be in the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Question Time.
A spokesman for No 10 said: "The Prime Minister will not be able to see the relatives."
Downing Street officials maintain that Blair had met relatives of members of the armed forces who had died in Iraq, but have refused to give any details.
If Tony Blair had any decency, and the courage of his convictions, he would meet with the bereaved and, if he is unable to explain his case convincingly, at least offer his condolences to them, face to face.
As it is, he looks like no more than a coward, on the run from his own misguided actions.
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned, have each known the pain of losing someone very close to us in the war in Iraq. All of them, Mr Blair, were proud to serve their country, and always knew and accepted that their duty could take them into danger. They always had faith, though, that no British prime minister would ever commit them to fight in an unjustified war.
The bravery of our sons, husbands, fathers, brothers could never be in any doubt. It cost them their lives in pursuit of a war that you so strongly supported. Some of us believed in the war at the outset; others not. All of us now, though, believe it was based on a series of lies - your lies.
Too many lives have been lost in the war, soldiers and Iraqis, and still there is no end in sight. We feel passionately that it is time to bring our troops home. We will be supporting the Troops Out demonstration on 18 March.
We would, of course, like the chance to say all this to you in person. As you know, we have sought meetings with you, to no avail. That seems to us a serious dereliction of your responsibilities. If you truly believe your policies, and the continuing need for the presence of British servicemen and women in Iraq, you should surely have the courage to face the families of those who have paid the ultimate price, and to explain them to us.
In the midst of the most terrible grief, we have tried at all times to conduct ourselves with dignity. Even as two more families endure the agony of loss all of us know so well, we hope our letter today requesting a meeting might give you pause for thought, and to reconsider. It is time for you to take us and our views seriously. We believe we speak for the majority in this country in our desire to bring the troops home. We ask you to treat us with respect.
Yours sincerely
Debbie Allbutt Wife of Cpl Stephen Allbutt, 35, of the Queen's Royal Lancers, died 25 March 2003
Anna Aston Wife of Cpl Russell Aston, 30, of 156 Provost Company, died 24 June 2003
Roger Bacon Father of Major Matthew Bacon, 34, of Headquarters of Multi-National Division, died 11 September 2005
Peter, Christine and Helen Brierley Parents and sister of L/Cpl Shaun Brierley, 28, of 212 Signal Squadron, died 30 March 2003
Beverley Clarke Mother of Tpr David Clarke, 19, of the Queen's Royal Lancers, died 25 March 2003
James and Ray Craw Parents of L/Cpl Andrew Craw, 21, of 1st Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, died 7 January 2004
Theresa Evans Mother of L/Bombardier Llywelyn Evans, aged 29, of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, died 21 March 2003
Rose and George Gentle, and Pauline Graham Parents and grandmother of Fusilier Gordon Gentle, 19, of 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers, died 28 June 2004
Richard, Karen and Catherine Green Parents and sister of Lt Philip Green, 30, of 849 Squadron, died 22 March 2003
Sharon Hehir Wife of Sgt Les Hehir, 34, of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, died 21 March 2003
Pauline Hickey Mother of Sgt Chris Hickey, 30, of 1st Battalion, the Coldstream Guards, died 18 October 2005
Reg and Sally Keys Parents of L/Cpl Thomas Keys, 20, of 156 Provost Company, RMP, died 24 June 2003
George and Ann Lawrence Parents of Lt Marc Lawrence, 26, of 849 Squadron, RNAS Culdrose, died 22 March 2003
Patricia Long, Byron Long Mother and brother of Cpl Paul Long, 24, of 156 Provost Company, RMP, died 24 June 2003
John and Marilyn Miller Parents of Cpl Simon Miller, 21, of 156 Provost Company, died 24 June 2003
Tracey, Tony and Mair Pritchard Wife and parents of Cpl Dewi Pritchard, 35, of 116 Provost Company (Volunteers), died 23 August 2003
Lianne Seymour Wife of operator mechanic 2nd Class Ian Seymour, 28, of 148 Commando Battery Royal Artillery, died 21 March 2003
Sue and Nigel Smith Mother and stepfather of Pte Phillip Hewett, 21, of 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment, died 16 July 2005
THE INDEPENDENT
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Undoubtedly Blair will also be "sadly aware" that many of the grieving relatives of the 103 British servicemen killed there have had enough of his repeated refusals to meet with them face to face to defend his policies on the war.
And "sadly aware" that the families have written an open letter to him, published today on the front page of The Independent and that, while being given permission to hand in the letter to 10 Downing Street today, the time for its delivery was set for noon - when Blair would be in the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Question Time.
A spokesman for No 10 said: "The Prime Minister will not be able to see the relatives."
Downing Street officials maintain that Blair had met relatives of members of the armed forces who had died in Iraq, but have refused to give any details.
If Tony Blair had any decency, and the courage of his convictions, he would meet with the bereaved and, if he is unable to explain his case convincingly, at least offer his condolences to them, face to face.
As it is, he looks like no more than a coward, on the run from his own misguided actions.
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned, have each known the pain of losing someone very close to us in the war in Iraq. All of them, Mr Blair, were proud to serve their country, and always knew and accepted that their duty could take them into danger. They always had faith, though, that no British prime minister would ever commit them to fight in an unjustified war.
The bravery of our sons, husbands, fathers, brothers could never be in any doubt. It cost them their lives in pursuit of a war that you so strongly supported. Some of us believed in the war at the outset; others not. All of us now, though, believe it was based on a series of lies - your lies.
Too many lives have been lost in the war, soldiers and Iraqis, and still there is no end in sight. We feel passionately that it is time to bring our troops home. We will be supporting the Troops Out demonstration on 18 March.
We would, of course, like the chance to say all this to you in person. As you know, we have sought meetings with you, to no avail. That seems to us a serious dereliction of your responsibilities. If you truly believe your policies, and the continuing need for the presence of British servicemen and women in Iraq, you should surely have the courage to face the families of those who have paid the ultimate price, and to explain them to us.
In the midst of the most terrible grief, we have tried at all times to conduct ourselves with dignity. Even as two more families endure the agony of loss all of us know so well, we hope our letter today requesting a meeting might give you pause for thought, and to reconsider. It is time for you to take us and our views seriously. We believe we speak for the majority in this country in our desire to bring the troops home. We ask you to treat us with respect.
Yours sincerely
Debbie Allbutt Wife of Cpl Stephen Allbutt, 35, of the Queen's Royal Lancers, died 25 March 2003
Anna Aston Wife of Cpl Russell Aston, 30, of 156 Provost Company, died 24 June 2003
Roger Bacon Father of Major Matthew Bacon, 34, of Headquarters of Multi-National Division, died 11 September 2005
Peter, Christine and Helen Brierley Parents and sister of L/Cpl Shaun Brierley, 28, of 212 Signal Squadron, died 30 March 2003
Beverley Clarke Mother of Tpr David Clarke, 19, of the Queen's Royal Lancers, died 25 March 2003
James and Ray Craw Parents of L/Cpl Andrew Craw, 21, of 1st Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, died 7 January 2004
Theresa Evans Mother of L/Bombardier Llywelyn Evans, aged 29, of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, died 21 March 2003
Rose and George Gentle, and Pauline Graham Parents and grandmother of Fusilier Gordon Gentle, 19, of 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers, died 28 June 2004
Richard, Karen and Catherine Green Parents and sister of Lt Philip Green, 30, of 849 Squadron, died 22 March 2003
Sharon Hehir Wife of Sgt Les Hehir, 34, of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, died 21 March 2003
Pauline Hickey Mother of Sgt Chris Hickey, 30, of 1st Battalion, the Coldstream Guards, died 18 October 2005
Reg and Sally Keys Parents of L/Cpl Thomas Keys, 20, of 156 Provost Company, RMP, died 24 June 2003
George and Ann Lawrence Parents of Lt Marc Lawrence, 26, of 849 Squadron, RNAS Culdrose, died 22 March 2003
Patricia Long, Byron Long Mother and brother of Cpl Paul Long, 24, of 156 Provost Company, RMP, died 24 June 2003
John and Marilyn Miller Parents of Cpl Simon Miller, 21, of 156 Provost Company, died 24 June 2003
Tracey, Tony and Mair Pritchard Wife and parents of Cpl Dewi Pritchard, 35, of 116 Provost Company (Volunteers), died 23 August 2003
Lianne Seymour Wife of operator mechanic 2nd Class Ian Seymour, 28, of 148 Commando Battery Royal Artillery, died 21 March 2003
Sue and Nigel Smith Mother and stepfather of Pte Phillip Hewett, 21, of 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment, died 16 July 2005
THE INDEPENDENT
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