04:53 p.m., Tuesday, December 18, 2001
I'm off now for Christmas. I'll be back on January 3rd, so I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas (or whatever)! See you when I get back.
[by Beth] comments?

02:18 p.m., Tuesday, December 18, 2001
This is what I've been saying all along! Nobody knows where he is. Even a senior Pentagon official has been quoted as saying “anybody’s guess is the latest thinking” about where bin Laden actually is.

You've bombed the rubble of Afghanistan into even smaller pieces. You've replaced some really scary, bad rulers with some that almost destroyed the country before. And now we say that we've no idea where the bad guy is - when it was him we were after all along? The Taleban were never really accused of helping in the attacks on America - just of habouring bin Laden and of letting him be their guest. So we've got rid of them (read: killed a large number of them, and made the rest flee).

But we're no further along than we ever were.

'“Indicators were there, and now indicators are not there. So maybe he still is here, maybe he was killed, or maybe he’s left,” Rear-Admiral John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. “A few days ago we believed that he was in that area. And now we’re not as sure. I’m not sure how close we ever really have been.”'

Here's another article of interest. Bin Laden's family have been donating DNA so that if he's ever killed or captured, we can be sure it's really him.
[by Beth] comments?

02:04 p.m., Tuesday, December 18, 2001
David Blunkett, the UK Home Secretary, is causing trouble again. Now it's his proposed shake up of the police service that's upsetting people. He wants to:

- increase the numbers of uniformed beat patrols by recruiting civilian auxiliaries
- allow overtime only after the completion of a 42-hour week, instead of the current 40
- clamp down on days taken off for illness

Now yes, he also wants to reduce red tape in routine policing and pay extra to officers engaged in community-based police work. But police officers are concerned that they are going to lose out on legitimate sick leave and lose overtime payments.

'Mr Broughton [Chairman of the Police Federation] described the police as "a very angry workforce"...

'The federation issued details of an ICM poll indicating that while 76 per cent of people favoured more police officers on the streets, 63 per cent were "alarmed" at plans for civilian patrollers with wide powers. Only 15 per cent backed the idea.'

I'm sure the police regime in this country needs a shake-up, but it also needs more (and more carefully distributed) funding and more support from the government.

'The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, told police officers yesterday that they should be "policing our streets" and "not demonstrating" on them as he signalled that he was prepared to wage a bitter fight to force through his plans to shake up the service.'

Because that's going to get them on side....
[by Beth] comments?

04:04 p.m., Monday, December 17, 2001
I can't believe that MPs in the governing party of this country have gone on record as saying that they think the News of the World's naming and shaming of paedophiles is a good idea (for my views on this issue, as far as they go, check out my archives from last week).
[by Beth] comments?

03:52 p.m., Monday, December 17, 2001
Oh, this freaks me out. I wish this bill hadn't been rushed through so quickly.

British police are about to start rounding up Islamic terrorist suspects now the bill has received royal assent.

'There was speculation that the round-up would begin yesterday, but no once can be arrested until Britain formally renounces a clause of the European convention on human rights which forbids governments imprisoning suspects without a trial.

...'The home secretary, David Blunkett, said its measures were "proportionate" and would safeguard the British way of life against those who sought to destroy it.

'It allows suspected international terrorists who threaten national security but cannot be deported to be detained without trial.

...'They and others have remained free because there is not enough evidence for them to be prosecuted in a British court and they cannot be deported because human rights laws prevent the government sending suspects back to countries where they may be persecuted.'

So look for the evidence. Arrest them and charge them. They aren't exactly running away.
[by Beth] comments?

03:41 p.m., Monday, December 17, 2001
Sales of guns rise sharply in America.

Yes, I'm anti-gun. I'm scared of what they symbolise. And they're too easy to use against yourself.
[by Beth] comments?

03:33 p.m., Monday, December 17, 2001
Well, I don't like the idea that we're importing our Western ideals to Afghanistan - I hate the idea that we're some kind of ideal that the rest of the world should compare itself too - but I'm still glad that Afghans are free to buy what they chose now.

Although I'd like to know how such a poor people are affording makeup. I have a sinking feeling that it's just the rich few and that the poor ones are starving in the streets without a thought.
[by Beth] comments?

03:27 p.m., Monday, December 17, 2001
RAAAR TO TURKISH WOMEN!!!!!
[by Beth] comments?

02:55 p.m., Monday, December 17, 2001
Tora Bora seems to have fallen. Al Qaida have fallen apart. And noone knows where Osama bin Laden is.

But Afghan fighters have killed over 200 Al Qaida fighters, so it's obviously all OK. Yes, I know all that 'fighting to the death' stuff - I don't think we should have backed them into a corner so that was their only choice. I quite liked the idea of the special forces catching them all and making them all stand trial. But hey.
[by Beth] comments?