Reach For A Lawyer
One thing that has always puzzled me about mass killings in the United States, is that no-one has used a lawyer to sue someone, who was loosely connected to the crime. The people, who made the guns and the bullets for a start. And what about his mother’s estate or his father, who moved out? They could also sue the school for not having a US Marine in every class room. The list could be endless to a creative lawyer.
After all McDonalds were successfully sued by someone who spilt a cup of hot coffee. I once did that to myself, so should I claim against the airline for serving me in error, when I have a gammy hand? As I spilt it all over that hand, perhaps the damage to the nerves caused my stroke. On the other hand, I would have lost the case, as I said sorry to the stewardess.
The Troubled Adam Lanza
It would appear from reports like this, that Adam Lamza was a very troubled kid.
It all goes to prove my feeling that as guns are so dangerous, they should always be under lock from two separate responsible people. I know this was originally proposed by the NFU to stop suicide amongst farmers, but it would help to stop the number of people killed in a country, where people habitually owned guns.
It would never be implemented in the United States, as the idiots of the NRA and many others, would consider it a major assault on freedom.
How To Deal With Annoying Bloggers – Iranian Style
This terrible story of the death of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger from Iran, shows the regime in its true colours.
Simon Jenkins In The Guardian On Jimmy Savile
I don’t seem to be the only person, who thinks that the reaction to Jimmy Savile and his undoubted crimes is a bit over the top. Read this by Simon Jenkins in that sensationalist tabloid, the Guardian. Here’s the last paragraph.
We now have a new form of accountability, to an “inquiriat”, a cackle of inquisitors and lawyers jumping to the bidding of public opinion, flapping round every executive’s head and piling accusation on every error. This can only lead to ever more defensive behaviour in every sphere of public life. It is the paranoia of the modern state. Every document is “open”, every conversation “on the record” and your friend today is tomorrow the witness against you.
Very soon, no-one will do anything because of fear!
In some ways the forces that protected Jimmy Savile are not unlike those that protected the abusers in some of the worst child and other abuse cases of recent years.
The Detective Who Broke The Rules
The conviction of Christopher Halliwell for the murder of Sian O’Callaghan is of course to be welcomed. But reports, like this one on the BBC, show that the detective who solved the murder broke a few rules. I would appear too, that Halliwell knew something about the murder of Becky Godden, as he led the p0lice to her body.
It is always said that difficult cases make bad law and this case would appear to have shown up a few faults in the rules by which the Police work.
But does it?
In this case, no-one died or was physically hurt because of what the detective did, so many will be calling for a change in the law. On the other hand, I don’t remember a similar case.
So perhaps it shows we’ve got it about right.
The Attacks In Cardiff
The attacks yesterday in Cardiff are very worrying.
The perpetrator has caused one death and a lot of serious injuries and all he used was a weapon available to many; a Transit-sized van.
Should The UK Reinstate The Death Penalty?
Today in Manchester, two young female police officers, were shot dead by a man wanted for murder.
It is the worst murder of members of the police since 1966. At that time, when Harry Roberts and two others, shot dead three policemen, I was serving in a pub in North London.
The mood in the pub that evening was sombre and one of horror. Few suggested that the recent abolishment of capital punishment the year before was to blame. Although a couple did get shouted down, for proposing thoughts about dead policemen.
Remember too, that it was soon after the Hanratty case, which did a lot to discredit the death penalty in the UK, as many believed Hanratty to be innocent.
I suspect that like in 1966, there will be a lot of discussion tonight and generally despite the sex and age of the victims, I suspect there will not be a large groundswell of support for the return of the death penalty.
There does appear to be one big difference between the murders today and that of those in 1966. Harry Roberts went and hid from the police, whereas Dale Cregan today, just walked into a police station and gave himself up. Perhaps he understood the horror, of what he had done, whereas Roberts didn’t! If Cregan did, we’ve moved on in the forty plus years.
What Should The Norwegians Do With Anders Breivik?
We have had three massacres in recent years in the UK; Hungerford, Dunblane and Cumbria.
These three are different to the shootings in Norway, in that all three of the perpetrators killed themselves. Even Raoul Moat did this after his horrendous crimes.
So does this mean that they understood the enormity of what they had done in some bizarre way? But we do often hear that the gunman has killed himself or themselves after this sort of case.
So this is the unusual thing about the Breivik case, in which his fate is decided today. Most criminals or terrorists of his kind usually commit suicide. The nearest we have to Breivik in this country is David Copeland, who was a neo-Nazi, who killed three, but it could have been so many more. He was considered to be mentally ill, but was tried for murder and will serve at least 50 years in jail.
I suspect that Breivik is the one person, who if released would either be murdered by his countrymen or do it again.
Ian Brady
The lead story on the BBC is Ian Brady. Why are the news media and the public so obsessed with this gruesome man?
He should just be left to rot in his cell. And when he does die, the story should be given little publicity.
I know it’s bad for the mother of his still undiscovered victim, but nothing will bring the victim back and it just makes it so much worse for all the others in the area, who lost a child to Brady or might have.
I speak as someone, who lost a son prematurely to pancreatic cancer. That is in many ways different. but I do feel guilty at times, that I didn’t do more to stop him smoking and get properly medically tested when his health started to go downhill. Now he’s gone, there’s just a big hole in my life!
Strangely, the case could be an argument against the death penalty. If Brady had been hung, there would now be no chance of recovering Keith Bennett’s body. On the other hand, Brady is now 74, so he’s been lucky in some ways to still be on this world.
The phone-in on BBC Radio 5 will probably about Ian Brady and/or the death penalty. I’m going out to do something more productive.
What Right Do The Taliban Have to Call Themselves Islamic?
We received the news yesterday of the cruel murder of Khalil Dale in Pakistan, supposedly by the Taliban. It is not the first time, they have killed people, who are trying to help the poorest of the poor where they operate. But then that was one of Khalil’s crimes in their eyes.
This sort of behaviuor disgusts me and contrasts so strongly with the guy called, Mohammed, late last night in Marks and Spencer. We talked about the rain and I said that I’d seen the aftermath of the bad accident in the Essex Road the day before. He asked if I was alright. I said yes, but thought the guy wasn’t. That is true compassion and should go with us all. And in fact, does go with most of us. Except obviously groups, like the Nazis and the Taliban.
I for one, hope that like bad fruit, the Taliban and their ilk, just wither and die! But I’m not totally hopeful it will happen!
The Anonymous Widower 