Sir
So our Prime Minister and his government believe that it is acceptable to have an unpopular leader assassinated. Perhaps they should be carefull of what they wish for….
I think that we should be told.
Yours faithfully
Surprised of Swindon
Tag Archives: news
thank you Wootton Bassett, and thank you Your Majesty
The folks down the road at Wootton Bassett have been doing something that has seemed sadly lacking in recent years, other than by minorities, in paying their respects. To have been acknowledged in this way is not something that they sought, but that makes it all the more of an honour.
And well done to our Queen as well for bestowing the honour. Royal support has also declined in recent years along with the standards of decency, and it is acts like those that the people of Wootton Bassett have shown that demonstrate just how far standards have slipped in this country.
So thank you to both town and Queen for standing up for something good and right. As a son of the Royal County I salute you both.
Filed under serious stuff
leave Andy alone
Why do the media have it in for Prince Andrew? We can’t be responsible for the sins of our friends, assuming that we even know about them. At the moment there isn’t even a real allegation against him, let alone anything else, and a bunch of publicity seeking individuals draggings his name around the edges of a scandal should be treated with the contempt that they deserve and be ignored.
There are a lot of people in this country who had a reasonable Christmas because of the work that HRH brought in for their employers, so leave him alone and let him get on with doing the good that he does. And while you’re at it, leave his ex alone too.
Filed under random rants
a tale of two hackers – part 2
Last week I had a bit of a go at the founder of Wikileaks, and I feel a bit of clarification may be needed. I’m not against whistle blowing, although I did once come a cropper doing just that myself, but last week I was drawing a parallel between those who seem to want to elevate Mr Assange to sainthood and the case of Gary McKinnon.
My issue with Julian Assange is that knowledge is power and needs to be used with care. I frequently am rude here about politicians, but there is a responsibility issue at hand and politicians have a difficult job, more so the further up the ivory tower they get. My beef with them is often about how ill prepared they are to wield the knowledge and power that they have.
There are times when the people (whoever they may be) have a right to know things and there are times when they don’t. That decision has to be made by someone. Now we are all human and fallible, but when we are entrusted with those decisions we have to do our best to do the right thing.
The problem I have with Wikileaks is that I don’t see any sign of accountability, let alone responsibility. Mr Assange and his supporters are happy enough to attack The System, but look what happens when things get rough; it’s that same System that they look to to protect them.
It takes courage to wield knowledge and power. I don’t see a lot of that in Mr Assange, and nor do I see it in the way that the US government is behaving towards Gary McKinnon. Maybe there is an irony there.
Filed under random rants, serious stuff
a tale of two hackers – the campaign to #freegary goes on
One the one hand we have an individual who is being lauded by the lovies and hailed as a hero by certain elements of the community. A man who has pleaded guilty to charges of hacking and has placed the lives of many at risk by publishing information that he and his supporters claim that we, the public, have a right to know about, regardless of the fact that there are nasty people around who can use what he is making public to their own twisted advantage.
And then we have a gentle soul who managed to break through the layers of security and hack into places he also had no right to be in, but did nothing malicious once there, simply had a poke around for interests purely of his own. The only publicity that has come from his actions has been brought to our attention by those whose security he breached.
One is seemlingly pretty safe and is being protected by laws in the UK and the other is, once again, seemingly on the brink of being handed over to the US where he is unlikely to get anything like a fair hearing.
I find it obscene that it is the second of these chaps that is facing being handed over, despite him being one of us, a UK national, whereas the first one, not a UK national, is the one that we are protecting.
I know that the charges they each face are different, but why are we not protecting Gary McKinnon? Julian Assange, in my opinion, is a very dangerous man who has little regard for the safety and security of others, and has done what he has done in the full knowledge of its implications for others, whereas Gary is a harmless person with a recognised medical condition who did not set out to damage anyone, and nor did he.
Julian Assange has placed the lives of many at risk; Gary McKinnon showed that there was a flaw in security that needed to be addressed. I think that the former deserves all he might get and the latter deserves a medal.
Now I read that Nick Clegg is backing away from his apparent commitment to Gary. Regardless of his gaffe earlier in the week about fogetting he was in charge, if the Lib-Dems are serious about government then let’s see some strong commitment. If the junior partners in this coalition can’t show some backbone then David Cameron should demonstrate how to lead and simply tell President Obama to give up on Gary McKinnon, end of story.
There are things in life worth standing up for and this is one of them. I shall continue to campaign for his freedom and I hope that you will join the fight.
Filed under serious stuff
we live in interesting times
We live in interesting times. Wasn’t that once a curse? Events through North Africa and into the Middle East echo the stunning scenes as the Berlin Wall came down, taking with it the former Soviet Bloc.
I don’t mean this to sound facetious, but the apparent role of social media in some of what we are reading about, and seeing on TV, maybe suggests that we don’t need costly invasions, just supply a bunch of smart phones and let Twitter and Facebook take over. Sure there will probably still be deaths, for every revolution needs martyrs but there may be less than riding into town with guns and missiles blazing courtesy of an invasion force.
The technological revolution has changed the world so much. As a gawky teenager I watched a moon that had men walking on it whilst also being able to talk to people who had been born before the first powered flight. My parents generation had fought a war at a time when weaponry moved from barely adequate ballistics to the atom bomb in less than 6 years and yet it is getting on for 20 years since US war planes were taking off a few miles from where I live to launch SCUD missiles in anger.
In the early 80’s I began programming computers that I never saw and would have taken up most of my kitchen, but had less computing power that the mobile phone that now sits alongside me. I had to run programmes using less memory that I need to accommodate this sentence on my laptop.
Yes the times are a changing.
We have enjoyed the fact that some parts of the world are apparently at peace when the fact is that there may be quiet, but it comes at the cost of what we would regard as repression. I think that we need to take a breath before we judge others. Why are we right and they wrong? Our world and what we take for granted is as alien to some people as our lives are to them. We readily criticise now the Imperialism of earlier centuries, yet was that not also an effort to impose our ways on others? If that was wrong what gives us the right to repeat the exercise now? If other groups of people have a desire to kill each other, where do we draw the line between intervention and inteference?
This is not a defence of cruel dictators or corrupt regimes. I applaud those who rise up and depose them, but only as long as they can provide a better alternative, otherwise they have just shed the blood of those who have died in vain. How much more blood has been shed in countries around the world after they have rid themselves of the resident despot? Sorry, but life is not easy and things are not as clear cut as we would like them to be when we sit in our comfortable worlds in what we like to think of as civilised countries.
My thoughts are with those who are protesting with hope for a better world in their hearts. I hope that they succeed in their dreams and that their success comes without blood and tears being spilled, or at least as little as possible. It also goes out to the people of New Zealand who have seen Mother Nature rise up against them. Life ain’t easy; it’s a privilege, so let’s not waste it. Times are too interesting to miss.
Filed under serious stuff
RIP Gary Moore
After various posts and tweets today, all pales into insignificance on hearing the news that Gary Moore has died. Same age as me as it happens.
An amazing guitarist and master gurner in the process, GM will be sadly missed, but he does at least leave us with a catalogue of material to for us to enjoy his memory from.
I’m off to find some of those memories on my iPod.
Filed under obituaries
Letters to the Editor #51 – QI, Top Gear and now Steve Coogan
Sir
I wrote here the other day in support of QI over the remarks made last week about Japan and the atom bomb raids that closed off WW2.
Over last weekend I had also watched Top Gear, and had heard the oafish remarks made regarding Mexico and its people, and those I cannot defend, nor would I want to. I regard that sort of behaviour, in a public forum, as being on the same level as Mr Gray and Mr Keys the other week. Some of Top Gear I find very enjoyable, but I missed an entire series after turning off part way through the first episode because of their antics in the deep south of the US.
It is a shame that three intelligent presenters seem to want to resort to this sort of behaviour, but the audience do seem to like it, as did that of the Sky football chaps (the 20 year success of the latter could not have come without the audience wanting to tune in).
Maybe I am in a minority here. If so I don’t mind, I make my own choices. Mr Coogan appears to be a fellow member, but maybe his public reaction has something to do with Top Gear drawing a bigger audience and getting more laughs? Certainly it is the first mention I have heard of him in a while.
Will I watch Top gear again tonight? Maybe, there’s not much else on, but the off button is there should I wish to use it.
Yours faithfully
Disgusted of Dorcan
Fry’s Japan visit axed over QI row
Isn’t about time we grew up and stopped all this nonsense? I’ve used the old adage sticks and stones more than once in these blogs, and I’ll say it again here.
These are only words. So they offended some people, but so what? I am offended by their offence, so will they retract? Of course not; the whole thing just becomes more and more stupid.
I knew people who suffered dreadfully at the hands of Japanese soldiers in WW2. One had a face that, when viewed from the front, was a perfect curve courtesy of a Japanese rifle butt. These things offend me greatly, but I don’t hold them against any Japanese person that I meet, any more than I hold prison camp atrocities against any Germans I encounter.
Bad taste means no harm and black humour helps get people through their dark days. We all get upset at times and bloody livid at others, but it only harms us when we do. Let it go by and live for the future with a little more tolerance. If we have that, then we might avoid getting into the very situations that led to that summer of 1945 and the terrible price paid on those two fateful days that are behind the remarks that started this.
These things are history; if we’re going to learn from them and improve our behaviour that is fine, remember them for that good reason, but to keep up this culture of taking offence is ridiculous. Where does it end? Should I be trying to stop re-runs of Carry on Cleo because it pokes fun at my ancient ancestors as they were enslaved by the Romans?
I hope that these words do not offend, but, quite honestly, I don’t care. They are an opinion and I am as entitled to it as you are to yours. If we don’t agree it doesn’t matter. The world would be a boring place if there was nothing to debate.
Filed under random rants
Sian Massey – more media madness
Not only am I appalled by the comments made by TV pundits, but also by the standard of reporting. Sian Massey is a referee, so why, when busily complaining about the behavior of a pair of pundits does a leading daily have to refer to her as “Girl Ref”. Surely that is just as sexist?
In his playing days I was a big fan of Andy Gray. I can still respect what he did on the pitch, but not what he has said about Sian Massey. Utterly disgraceful.
Filed under random rants
The Voice of the Bloke at the Back 