Kenny MacAskill
Kenny MacAskill is the Scottish Justice Minister at the centre of the Megrahi case.
I didn’t know much about him until I read this profile of him on the BBC web site.
He is an interesting character and judging by his anti-English views, he is not the sort of person, I would get on with. It may have been to a appreciative audience, but his views on the England football team as “The Great Satan”, was a bit much.
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi
Whatever view you think about this man, the whole affair doesn’t seem to be a very good example of justice.
I am very much a believer in the rule of law. Could I be anything otherwise, with my late wife being a barrister and one of my son’s a solicitor? I count lots of lawyers and quite a few judges amongst my friends.
So for a start, I don’t think the victims of Lockerbie and their families have got by any means a satisfactory result. I don’t think they even got one in the trial, as although al-Megrahi was found guilty, I have my doubts that he would have been judged so by a jury in an English court. According to Reevel Alderson, a respected BBC correspondent, al-Megrahi may just have been “A Convenient Scapegoat”.
One important piece of evidence was clothes that he was alleged to have bought in Malta wrapped around the bomb. This is from Alderson’s article.
There were question marks too over Tony Gauci, a Maltese shopkeeper who was the only man to identify Megrahi.
His evidence was that the Libyan, who he picked out at an identity parade, had bought the clothes at his shop.
But his police statements are inconsistent, and prosecutors failed to tell the defence that shortly before he attended an identity parade, Mr Gauci had seen a magazine article showing a picture of Megrahi, and speculating he might have been involved.
Mr Gauci now lives in Australia, and according to defence claims is believed to have been paid several million dollars by the Americans for his evidence.
We also have the views of some of the relatives, that Megrahi was not guilty.
Whatever, you think, his trial was not very satisfactory.
His appeal was interesting, in that it would have asked the British Government to disclose a lot of secret information. Again from Alderson.
Secret documents before the Appeal Court – which even the defence has not seen – might have provided new information.
They will now remain undisclosed, after the foreign secretary issued a Public Information Immunity certificate stating that to publish them would be to the detriment of UK national security.
Was it just too convenient, that they found a way to release him before the appeal and they had the Scottish Government to blame? Make up your own mind.
But whatever Megrahi was, it would be very unlikely that he acted alone.
So now we are cow-towing to Gaddafi, who it is true to say has the oil we want. Or at least our two-faced government wants. Read any history of Gaddafi and the two make excellent bed-fellows.
Megrahi was just an unfortunate obstacle in the path to good relations, so he had to be removed one way or the other. Here’s what The Times said.
I don’t think anybody got justice in this tragedy. Especially those that ordered the destruction of PanAm 103. They remained completely untouched and free to plan other acts of terrorism and mayhem.
UFOs and Debach
The government has released details of various UFO sightings today.
I’m not sure that I believe in UFOs, but there are sightings, for which there is a not a rational explanation. Sometimes, these are ones that just weren’t investigated, so by the time we do, any chance of an explanation is long gone.
Where we used to live at Debach, we were right in line with the runway at Bentwaters and often lights could be seen hovering to the east. They were just the landing lights of USAF jets on final approach. But others thought they were otherwise.
But there is also the Rendlesham incident, where American servicemen thought they saw aliens and an alien craft. The BBC found out the truth in 2003. It was a hoax.
But was it? Others are just as vociferous in saying it was aliens.
I prefer the BBC’s explanation.
But the alien has a certain credibility and has lasted a long time, so much so that the BBC based a version of New Tricks around it.
Perseid Meteor Showers
Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock has just entertained us all on Breakfast Television by talking about the Perseid meteor showers which reach their peak tonight.
What a brilliant enthusiast!
We need more scientists like her, who obviously know their stuff and broadcast it in a way that could get even the worst couch-potato interesting!
I shall be watching when I come back from the football at Shrewsbury. The best time would appear to be between 9 and 11 tonight, before the moon rises.
One thing, is that they’re posting pictures on Twitter.
To take part in the Twitter Meteorwatch, follow @NewburyAS and @astronomy2009uk or use the hash tag #meteorwatch.
Food Shortages
Isn’t the best way to cut food shortages, to cut the birthrate? Then we should make sure people aren’t overweight and obese.
But this report today is a typical overreaction of a government that wants to frighten us all to do their bidding. Engineers and scientists will solve the problem, just like they have every great crisis in the past. And I suspect that we can do it without using GM crops to any great extent.
There is talk that we’ll be have a more vegetarian diet. I’m afraid that would be a severe problem for me, as all of the cereals I can eat are generally imported.
The Oldham Solution to Binge Drinking
Oldham has brought in fairly draconian proposals to stop binge drinking.
You have to queue “Post Office” style for your drinks, there seem to be masses of extra staff and even police paid for by the bars. Panorama is doing a program tonight. But one landlord feels he is being tarred with same brush and has successfully appealed against the council.
I am all for cutting down the binge drinking, but feel that if only Oldham does this, then those that just want to drink to oblivion will go elsewhere. This may put the problem into other towns and also cause problems on the roads and public transport.
I always remember in the 1960s, that Ipswich closed the pubs at 10:30 and Suffolk at 11:00, so there was always problems as drinkers finished in Ipswich and continued in Suffolk. When the two authorities brought things into line, everything was much calmer and there was a lot less drinking and driving.
We actually need a law, which says that alcohol must be sold at a minimum price per unit in every outlet. But even this needs to be applied very carefully, as otherwise alcohol will be bootlegged and organised crime will get involved. Perhaps, the value per unit would not be fixed in law, but applied so as to minimise illegal alcohol sales.
But we will only get a solution to the binge drinking problem, when people wake up to the fact that there are better things to do.
I also think of “Education, education, education!”
Where have I heard that before?
Will I be visiting Olham for a drink? I don’t think so, as it would appear that the town is not to my liking. I’ve also checked the guides and there isn’t a decent restaurant in the place! And I suspect no-one has heard of gluten! After all, if you can’t drink beer, you can’t be a real man!
A Bad Bet
Camelot are in trouble for selling lottery tickets to people abroad, who because of the rules won’t win.
I thought that the whole point of lotteries was to remove money from mugs, so it surely doesn’t make any difference. They’ll lose anyway.
The Russian Attack
It would appear that Russia has been using Twitter, Facebook and other sites to silence a Georgian with whom they disagree.
I take a dim view of this, as I’m a great believer in free speech, but it doesn’t really matter that much. The fact that it’s now clear that the Russians attempted the silencing does them more damage, than one Georgian blogger.
Technology will continue to improve over the next few years and censorship of the Internet will make these sort of attacks much more difficult.
I do find it strange that Russia should use the Internet in this way, when according to Internet spam experts like SpamHaus, three of the top ten spammers are based in the Russian Federation. I think of phrases that use pot, kettle and black.
A First for The Times
It was perhaps a first for The Times today in that the picture on the front page was a fish. Not any fish but a much loved carp called Benson from Peterborough.
Religion or Male Chauvanist Piggery
Stories like this one from the Sudan really get me annoyed.
If Muslims want us to take them seriously, then they really ought to move towards the present day. In the UK, there are many Muslim women who wear trousers, so it can’t be a real religious thing at all.
It’s just another way to keep the women down.
Islam was once a great forward looking religion, which for example guarded and expanded our science for hundreds of years. Now many of its so-called adherents, seem to try to find more ways to bring it to ridicule and disgrace.
The Anonymous Widower 