I Don’t Like Guns!
Basically, because they kill people, but I do realise that some people need to hold them. In a review on the Derrick Bird killings in Cumbria, changes are recommended to the gun laws.
I feel that we need just one change to the gun laws and that is to make sure that guns are always locked safely away, when they are not in use, under a dual-key system.
My reason is incidents such as those in which Derrick Bird was involved are not that common, but there have been quite a few suicides involving legally-held weapons. There have also been the odd accident, where children have been playing with weapons. Incidentally, in the United States, a lot of minors are killed accidentally by legally-held firearms.
So locking them up securely with two keys held by two responsible people may be a simple measure that could cut a lot of deaths. Imagine a ard-up farmer, who perhaps felt suicide was a good way to go, having to convince, say his wife, that he needed the guns, when he was not in a fit mental state.
I have actually heard the NFU saying that this is a sensible measure.
The Legacy of Piper Alpha
Piper Alpha was a gas rig that blew up in the North Sea killing 167 people. But it does seem that the disaster has brought in a way of working that is safer and less likelt to cause accidents and leaks. As the United States is trying to decide what to do after Deepwater Horizon, read about what we have done and how others have followed the lead in the Los Angeles Times.
America on the Ropes
Read this interesting take on the Death Penalty from David Rothkopf called “America on the ropes: First GM goes bankrupt and now this…”
Whoever Supplied This Should be Prosecuted
I indicated in an earlier post that the United States was having difficulty in getting enough sodium thiopental to carry out executions. It now appears that a British company has supplied the drug. This is an extract from the BBC’s report.
Writing in the Guardian newspaper, a British civil rights lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, has called for the naming and shaming of the company as it was “making a business out of killing”.
“One question that immediately springs to mind is whether it is criminal for the British corporation to profit from such a killing: while the language is loose, EU Council Regulation 1236/2005 takes a step along this path, making it illegal to trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment…’
“When the veil of secrecy is inevitably sundered, this British corporation should be reminded that the medical profession boasts of a Hippocratic oath, not a hypocritical one,” he wrote.
I agree with Clive and will be writing to the company, when it becomes known.
US May Re-Instate “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Policy for Gay Servicemen
I have never understood the US’s policy on gay servicemen. My view has always been that if you’re up to the job you can do it and if you’re not you shouldn’t. Whether you’re gay or not is irrelevant.
As the British and other forces have gay recruits and some of these are probably fighting alongside the US forces in Afghanistan, I just wonder if the subject ever comes up. I suspect that professionalism will out!
I just think though that the US should bring its policies up to what is acceptable in the modern world. Let’s start with proper attitudes to gays, women, minorities, religion and the death penalty.
Liverpool on the Brink
Of what I’m not sure! But it looks like now that the Texas Legal System has got involved, that things will get more uncertain for the club.
I can’t see what a Texas Court has got to do with a deal done in the UK involving a British Bank, two individuals and an English football club. On the other hand I can understand why RBS don’t want to go against the US Courts, as there have been some rather one-sided results in the past, like the NatWest Three.
The Welsh Call-Up Their Secret Weapon
I thought they were pushing it to hold the Ryder Cup in early October, after this cold summer in the UK, but to hold it in Wales was taking real chances.
So off course the Welsh called out their secret weapon to soak the Americans and ruin their game. It seems to be working as Europe was marginally ahead when play was suspended today.
To make things worse for the Americans, their waterproofs don’t work!
Reputedly, the Americans have been heard asking, if there is a Welsh manufacturer of waterproofs!
Apparently, they ended up buying the gear from ProQuip, who would appear to be a Scottish company. But then they know about rain up there!
Justice – Virginia Style
We have all protested about the proposed stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Iran, but why is it the European governments are absolutely silent and not protesting about the execution of Teresa Lewis in Virginia, especially as she is just a point on the IQ scale above the legal minimum for execution in the United States.
The least we should do is to suspend fast track extradition to the United States. By not protesting we are actually condoning the horrific sentence.
But then the United States doesn’t believe in justice but vengeance!
The Anonymous Widower 