391 replies to this topic

[harper]

Wae a bit of luck Amerika will go inra huff and not invite us tae any merr wars ur invashuns

Love it.

Ooooh, don't you love it when Scotland takes a stand against America, unlike their yella bellied cousins.
Sorry, Peony, nae offence.

I think MacAskill made a very sound decision, eloquently delivered.

[Pat]

I think Kenny MacAskill made the right decision and doubt that he would be getting in touch with Hilary to advice her on any political action. It would be shocking to think that she could bring any influence to bear on such a decision.

No doubt many of the families of the victims and the people in Lockerbie wonder, as many of us do, whether Megrahi should ever have been convicted in the first place.

I'm also sure that Edinburgh is full of American tourists right now and doubt any of them will be returning early because of this decision.

[Hamsterbert]

Oh, but I'm really quaking in my boots 'cos some of them threaten to boycott our whiskey. Yes, with an "e". The type that love upper case, as you might guess. Funny how that seems to the internet equivalent of green ink.

I've been having an interesting time looking at comments on the New York Times and the Washington Post.

[rolo tomassi]

Yep, similarly the English red tops are simply thrilled to have yet another 'weapon' to add to their anti-Scottish armoury... their usual-suspect rabid commentators are having a field day.
If only their collective IQs managed to struggle into double figures then we'd be right to be worried..

[ozneil]

Well Im gonna boycot Scottish goods I wont touch a Scotch for at least 8 hours. That'll larn you!


All strength to MacAskill dispensing humanity as he saw it without fear or favour & refusing to be intimidated.

[harper]

Yep, similarly the English red tops are simply thrilled to have yet another 'weapon' to add to their anti-Scottish armoury... their usual-suspect rabid commentators are having a field day.
If only their collective IQs managed to struggle into double figures then we'd be right to be worried..

Oooooooh, you go girl

Actually, the decision itself wasn't that important to me, it was the fact the MacAskill was prepared to take this decision, either way, without pandering to an English or American Government. That said, I liked his style and I think his judgement was right on the money.

I think the American adminsitration is in danger of coming out of this a bit stinky and quite frankly, are in no position to be lecturing ANYBODY about mistakes. Their attempts to strong arm the decison making process is, IMO, offensive and completely, inappropriate. If ever an administration needed to put it's gas in a peep....

[Lone Groover]

The welcome that awaited this murderer on his return kind of bears out my earlier comment about it being a PR coup for terrorism.

See the Daily M@sh for new of Peter Suttcliffes appeal !

[lynnski]

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and
have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though,
security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross."
Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea
supplies all but ran out. Terrorists themselves have been re-categorized from
"Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody
Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror
alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are
"Surrender" and "Collaborate." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire
that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the
country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to
"Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat
Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to
"Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels:
"Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat
they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.
These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy
can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

[Lone Groover]

tee hee

[Milligna]

The lawyer Robert Black was on the telly at lunchtime pouring scorn on the entire circus. He had some very interesting points to make. I'm sure they'll be drowned out by the baying of the mob.

[harper]

The welcome that awaited this murderer on his return kind of bears out my earlier comment about it being a PR coup for terrorism.

See the Daily M@sh for new of Peter Suttcliffes appeal !

I thought the welcome he got was based on the fact that he is believed to be innocent and not a celebration of the act he was convicted of.

Peter Sutcliffe appeal? On what grounds would that be on then?

[rolo tomassi]

tee hee

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA and indeed AHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAAAAAA, Lynnski!

Harper I think you're right in what you say. As the story enfolds, it's becoming tres convincing that there is new evidence that may (or may not) become public and may question the safety of Mr Megrahi's conviction.

Here's the article LG's referring to; from the 'alternative' Daily Mail. It's a website, written by journalists in their 'spare' time, at least one of whom is a Scot. The Ma*h is essential daily reading in the Tomassi household----and has health-giving properties due to the endorphins released when pissing yourself laughing

WARNING! SOME OF THIS MAY NOT BE TRUE....(just like the real Daily Mail then..)

YORKSHIRE Ripper Peter Sutcliffe has begun digging for oil beneath his Broadmoor cell in the hope of bribing the authorities into letting him go.

In the event of a successful strike Sutcliffe hopes to negotiate his early release in return for full exploration rights and a series of generous tax concessions.

A Broadmoor source said: "As a back-up he's applied to join the Libyan secret service. He's written a lovely letter to Colonel Gadaffi and has hired an Arabic translator to help him fill in all the forms."

The move came as the Scottish government released terminally- ill Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi in time for Ramadan, the Islamic festival of onshore drilling.

Insisting the release was on compassionate grounds, Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, said: "Jail is a terrible thing. I remember sitting in a police cell shortly after I was banged up for being completely arseholed at Wembley in 1999 and thinking, 'no one shoud have to put up with this, no matter how drunk they are, or how many planes they've blown up'."

He added: "And anyway prostate cancer is, quite frankly, a bugger. When you're facing mortality the last thing you need is to be bothered by a lot of insensitive prison officers and their noisy, jangling keys."

Meanwhile Scottish government sources stressed the Libyan's appeal was unlikely to have been heard before he died, mainly because it takes so long to say his full name.

But al-Megrahi's release has angered the British public with many claiming that when it comes to reasons for denying someone compassion, mass murder is about as good as it gets.

Tom Logan, an accountant from Finsbury Park, said: "If someone who had killed 270 people told me they had cancer, my natural reaction would be to say 'that must be just awful for you, I hope it's really sore'.

"I'm pretty sure I wouldn't come up with some bullshit excuse and then organise a private jet to fly them home."

Margaret Gerving, a retired headmistress from Guildford, added: "Harold Shipman would never have been released on compassionate grounds and he was a doctor so he would have been really good at faking it."

[Milligna]

You must be one of the few, Brian.

I listen into Galloway's programme on the radio last night. Such is the way of things with the media over the past couple of days that hearing the background of the case debated was fascinating.

[notanimby]

You must be one of the few, Brian.

I listen into Galloway's programme on the radio last night. Such is the way of things with the media over the past couple of days that hearing the background of the case debated was fascinating.

Ah take it Brian (am a fannie) wilson isnae wantin a contract tae sell windmills tae ra Libyans then, but he could dae them a deal on bein an apologist fur illegal wars, nuclear power etc

Funny how he forgot tae menshun anything aboot ra deal signed by Tony Bliar wae Gaddafhi aboot prisoner exchanges Hmmmm funny that

[Milligna]

More and well worth reading today's entries.

[Milligna]

Aye, right ...

[Milligna]

You just can't keep a good sailor down.

[tomtscotland]

Aye, right ...

I saw that live on BBC news.
Seemed quite convincing but maybe just "brazen".

Your head will hurt if you try to get at truth – it is hidden behind smoke and mirrors.

The case against al-Megrahi was circumstantial.
Equally there is a circumstantial case that governments are hiding the truth and are happy to see this as “case closed”.
- Did the American’s have prior warning of an attack?
- Was it linked to the the U.S. shooting down an Iranian passenger plane?
- Papers on Lockerbie will never be published due to a "public interest immunity certificate" being issued against them. What are they really trying to hide?

This is interesting - Dalyell asks Thatcher about Lockerbie

[Milligna]

- Did the American’s have prior warning of an attack?

Hansard. About a third of the way down, the Helsinki warning. It might have been nothing then but it's a bit of an eye-opener today.

[Milligna]

FBI chief chucks a tyre onto the fire and thickens the smokescreen. I doubt there are many of us here content to be lectured on justice and the rule of law by an official of the US government given the shenanigans in Cuba since 2001.