03:50 p.m., Friday, December 14, 2001
A couple of interesting articles about the Sarah Payne case.

I don't have time to discuss them properly now. Suffice to say that I don't know what I think. It's hard to believe that paedophiles can ever be reformed, but can we lock them up forever just in case? What if they can be treated?

Going to Newcastle for the weekend. Have a good one. I'll be back on Monday.
[by Beth] comments?

03:28 p.m., Friday, December 14, 2001
The emergency terror bill has finally been passed. Various parts were rejected, but it still scares me how much got through.

'Despite the setbacks, the terror bill, including new police powers to demand disclosure of files, phone calls and emails, will be placed on the statute book this morning.

'The bill will also give the security services powers to detain suspected foreign terrorists who cannot currently be prosecuted or deported. They are expected to move swiftly to pick up a handful of suspected terrorists in Britain.'

David Blunkett has made himself look even worse now in my eyes, by saying that the Lib Dems messed up their arguments and calling them stupid. I'm a Lib Dem voter, and Labour have just pushed me a little further away from ever sympathising with them.
[by Beth] comments?

03:12 p.m., Friday, December 14, 2001
An article from the Guardian discussing the newly-released video of Osama bin Laden discussing the attacks on the World Trade Centre.

I've not seen it yet. But I'm interested to. It sounds freaky. But even if he was to stand up now and say 'OK, yes, I did it, come and arrest me' I would still not believe that the bombing campaign was right.
[by Beth] comments?

02:56 p.m., Friday, December 14, 2001
If you read the link I posted yesterday about the Sarah Payne case and its ramifications, you may be interested in this article. [NYT registration required]
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05:13 p.m., Thursday, December 13, 2001
I am so glad we have a House of Lords that's willing to fight the House of Commons.
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05:00 p.m., Thursday, December 13, 2001
This article discusses the Sarah Payne case and its repercussions. (For details of the case in question, see here.)

The man in question, Roy Whiting, had abducted and molested a child before. He'd been jailed and refused treatment for his paedophilia. And when he was released from jail, after serving three years of a four-year sentence, he was only supervised for a few months.

The law failed, and a child died horribly as a result. But we have to make sure that we don't respond by driving paedophiles underground, where we can't keep track of them and protect other children. We also have to prevent mob rule. Innocent people have been attacked because of newspapers naming and shaming - they may as well have overtly encouraged people to attack their houses. THis can't be right.

I don't know what the answer is, but the article is very good.
[by Beth] comments?

04:55 p.m., Thursday, December 13, 2001
Bin Laden should fry, but we should try him first.

Interesting article. I disagree with the ultimate conclusion, that Bin Laden should face the death penalty. I'm sure that even though he wasn't on those planes and obviously didn't actually want to die, he wouldn't be too scared of death. I think that subjecting him to the death penalty would do what the article suggests some are scared a trial would do: make a martyr out of him. But it makes some damned good points.
[by Beth] comments?

03:30 p.m., Thursday, December 13, 2001
Interesting article about David Blunkett's suggestions of the last few days.
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02:23 p.m., Thursday, December 13, 2001
Talking about oaths of allegiance....

Not sure what I think about this. I don't like Sinn Fein because of their links to the IRA. But neither do I like the fact that all MPs in this country have to swear allegiance to the crown. But again I'm not a republication (not really). The thought of having a president is really scary to me. But then I start to think - is that just because I've never known different? There was a general election in 1992, when I was 16. We were all too young to vote, but old enough to care. And none of us really liked the Tories. But we'd all been three when they came to power. We'd not known life under Labour, and were scared that it would somehow be different, scarier. And even I, one of the more liberal liberals among us, was relieved when the Tories got back in.

Of course, by 1997 we'd got over that fear. But still.
[by Beth] comments?

02:21 p.m., Thursday, December 13, 2001
I have no reason to post this here, other than to beg you all not to drive when you haven't had enough sleep.

One of the men who died was a friend of a friend. (I think he was the first one of the list.) He had a kid dammit.
[by Beth] comments?

05:16 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001
Last post for today, I swear. It relates to yesterday's post about the oath of allegiance it has been suggested that new immigrants swear.

'But Mr Blunkett's other remarks are a series of canards and non-sequitors. He talks of the need for English to be learned to tackle segregation that contributed to the riots. Those least likely to have a grasp of English are the elderly and women who come here for arranged marriages. Look at the TV footage of the rioters. There is a striking absence of Zimmer frames, of hijabs and salwar kameez. Those rioting were young men, with a pretty good grasp of English, integrated enough to have the odd drink, spliff and be clad in Nike's finest.

'Bravely he says down with bad things, such as forced marriages and female genital mutilation, which are already against the law. The kindest interpretation is that his interview was a diversion from the real debate that needs to take place. How is it that, under this government, which vowed to tackle social exclusion, poverty and racism, those very factors led to the worst race riots we have seen in a decade? Accepting the role played by these factors is not to excuse the riots, but to understand the roots better.

'And understanding that the prime problems in these areas are poverty and racism, not linguistic abilities, leads naturally to demands for more action and money; and a need for this government to stand up to the racist elements of some of its own constituency.'
[by Beth] comments?

05:11 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001
IHT article about Hamid Karzai, the newly appointed prime minister of Afghanistan's interim government.

He has warned America never to "walk away from Afghanistan," again and he offered the friendship and help of his country.
[by Beth] comments?

05:06 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001
I used to support Everton years ago, so I'm glad to hear that they're trying to combat racism in their fans.
[by Beth] comments?

05:04 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001
Interesting.
[by Beth] comments?

05:01 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001
An article about the men who died in the 'friendly fire' incident.
[by Beth] comments?

04:56 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001
I thought that this article on the recommendation that 25% of places at 'faith schools' should be offered to children from 'other backgrounds' was interesting.

I think it shows a marked lack of respect for the faiths in question - interestingly, according to the article, largely Anglican - to steamroller over them like that.
[by Beth] comments?

04:48 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2001
The so called '20th hijacker' was charged today. If he's convicted he could face the death penalty.

I still think it's wrong. I always will. He wanted to die anyway. He thought it'd bring him glory. But I would rather see him die in jail than bring ourselves down to his level. Murder is murder. The death of a single human being is always a tragedy. I don't see that lowering ourselves to the level of murderers helps advance our cause any.

But he'll be tried and found guilty, and probably executed. Vengeance has to be seen to be done.
[by Beth] comments?

05:27 p.m., Tuesday, December 11, 2001
I have so many links to post, and I don't know what's important any more. But I do know that everyone should read this article. It's the account of a Western journalist, Robin Fisk, who was beaten up by a group of Afghan refugees. But he doesn't blame or resent them.

'...I thought I should write about what happened to us in this fearful, silly, bloody, tiny incident. I feared other versions would produce a different narrative, of how a British journalist was "beaten up by a mob of Afghan refugees".

And of course, that's the point. The people who were assaulted were the Afghans, the scars inflicted by us – by B-52s, not by them. And I'll say it again. If I was an Afghan refugee in Kila Abdullah, I would have done just what they did. I would have attacked Robert Fisk. Or any other Westerner I could find.'
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05:23 p.m., Tuesday, December 11, 2001
The House of Lords has rejected the new terror legislation again.
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05:23 p.m., Tuesday, December 11, 2001
David Blunkett, the UK home secretary, commissioned a report into the race riots that took place this summer in various northern UK towns. It has just come back with its recommendations. Among other things, it suggests that immigrants should be made to pledge their 'primary loyalty' to the UK, and that immigrants should take up British 'norms'.

Scary stuff.

America was built on immigration. The UK was built on people coming in and taking over. And we're trying to stem the tide now?

Why should people who have fled their country in fear of their lives be made to swear allegiance to us? And what are British norms? Avoiding talking about anything important, calling yourself Christian but only going to church at Christmas, being very proper all week and going out and getting wrecked at the weekend?

No, I don't like that idea.
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