BBC – Rumsfeld faces Iraq letters row: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has pledged to personally sign letters of condolence to the families of American soldiers killed in action. He spoke shortly after his admission that he had used a machine to sign letters to relatives of more than 1,000 troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For some reason I’m reminded of this quote from The Simpsons…
“They let me sign checks with a stamp, Marge! A stamp!” – Homer Simpson, Trash of the Titans
Please excuse the shameless link-dump….
Independent – Severely disabled, mentally ill: the truth about Broadmoor ‘terrorist’ emerges: He is known to the outside world only as “P”. Nearly two years ago, he was arrested without charge and imprisoned as an alleged foreign terrorist – an al-Qa’ida sympathiser who threatens Britain’s national security. But P is now in a mental ward in Broadmoor secure hospital, one of four men arrested as suspect terrorists since September 11 who have suffered a severe mental collapse. And he is an alleged terrorist who has no arms.
UPDATE – Fool that I am, I thought I could do better.
UPDATE – Oh and B3ta’s new comp challenges you to make greeting cards. I made this for Sun-readers.
The White Stuff White Christmas Competiton is ticking over nicely.
The idea is that you create a tree (ideally from cardboard and not abandoned railway sleepers) and send in a photo. That’s it, really.
If you want to join in, you have until next Thursday to check out the full competition details, create your tree(s) and send in your entry.
There are three 50-squid White Stuff gift vouchers up for grabs and – as always – I’ve set this up so I have nothing to do with the judging, so Bloggerheads regulars are welcome to enter without fear of favour.
The Sun has backed off on their Save Our Christmas campaign. Perhaps Ben was right and the whole thing was meant to occupy minds that otherwise would dwell on the Blunkett affair. Or perhaps they’re simply running out of ammunition. The best they can manage today is vandals who cut down a Christmas tree and some schoolchildren who have been banned from wearing tinsel around their neck. Instead, they’re using a lot of space demonising Kimberly Quinn/Fortier (there’s a large ‘Fatal Attraction’ centre-spread, casting her as a “wicked witch” out to destroy his career) and laying the grounds for Blunkett’s triumphant return.
Then again, this link from Peter suggests that this is a seasonal – and global – event designed to use Christianity’s greatest PR asset to demonise the left:
Metafilter – Annual airing of grievances
Then-then again-again, it could be both. Rebekah Wade isn’t beyond multi-tasking in her role as Willing Servant of Evil.
More: Christmas with the Murdochs
“The greatest danger of bombs is in the explosion of stupidity that they provoke.” – Octave Mirbeau
Independent – Law lords condemn Blunkett’s terror measures: Controversial anti-terror laws championed by David Blunkett in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks were dealt a devastating blow yesterday in a historic judgment by the House of Lords. Just hours after he resigned as Home Secretary, Mr Blunkett had to suffer the fresh humiliation of seeing one of his flagship policies being dismantled by the law lords.
They ruled that Mr Blunkett’s determination to suspend the Human Rights Act and imprison foreign terror suspects without charge or trial was the “real threat to the life of the nation”. The law lords’ opinion, delivered by an eight-to-one majority, leaves the Government little option but to rethink its key policy on terrorism.
The key quote from Lord Hoffmann had me cheering at my television yesterday. Here it is in full:
“The real threat to the life of the nation, in the sense of a people living in accordance with its traditional laws and political values, comes not from terrorism but from laws such as these.” – Lord Hoffmann
The response from the government is that the law has been legitimised by lower courts, but this ruling by the Lords is irrelevant because – in the end – it is for parliament to decide. How joyful it is, then, that parliament is not weighted in favour of the man driving this hayride to hell and that MPs are free to decide and not prone to pressure from the whips. Or constituents whipped up into a fearful frenzy by the press.
Speak of the devil… here’s the response from Rupert Murdoch. And by that I mean the unofficial response from Downing St. Please note that it yet again casts anybody who opposes Blair’s policies as being crazy…
The Sun – Loony Lords: Day One of his new job and Home Secretary Charles Clarke finds out exactly what he’s up against. Eight Law Lords make a ludicrous ruling that the anti-terrorism law passed after 9/11 is wrong. Lord Bingham declares that the law contravenes human rights because it discriminates against foreigners. It has clearly escaped his notice that al-Qaeda is largely made up of Saudis, Iraqis, Syrians, Jordanians and Afghans, not people born in Bolton, Bedford or Bournemouth. He then declares that holding terrorist suspects without trial is “disproportionate to the threat it is meant to counter”. Is he potty? How could it be disproportionate to the destruction of London with a dirty bomb, or a chemical or biological attack that might kill thousands? Lord Hoffman makes the disgraceful claim that the real threat is not terrorism “but laws like these”. Our new Home Secretary knows better than to listen to this piffle from the Lords.
Yes. I’m in total agreement. And when I grow up, I’m going to Bovine University.
Note the ever-present invocation of 11/9 (and please note correct formatting of date). Note that the threats they claim make draconian measures such as detention without trial totally proportionate have themselves been blown out of proportion by this government and by newspapers under the control of Rupert Murdoch.
But… but.. but.. have we forgotten that these men can go home at any time?
Go home to what? The threat of persecution, torture or perhaps death?
Sure. They deserve it. They’re terrorists.
Oh, really? And where’s your proof?
Guardian – Who are held, and why?
Here I should point out that you should not fall into the trap of saying things like; “I suppose the intelligence that condemns these men is as reliable as the intelligence that told us Iraq had weapons of mass destruction”… as the real issue over said intelligence in that case was that it was not the intelligence at fault, but the US and UK governments corrupting, shaping, interpreting and cherry-picking intelligence to come up with the ‘evidence’ they required.
But…
This same corruption of intelligence can now lead to us receiving intelligence that appears direct, undiluted and reliable… but may very well have originated from the attachment of a car battery to a man’s carefully oiled genitals.
Don’t forget that evidence obtained under torture is admissible in our courts. Should these men ever get anything approaching the appearance of a trial.
Blair bleats constantly about the only justification he has left for the illegal invasion of Iraq… the importance of bringing democracy (and therefore stability) to the Middle-East. Presumably via the process of proximal osmosis.
Meanwhile, at home, civil liberties, justice and democracy are subverted for the greater good. But only to a point. Tony Blair knows this is a slippery slope he’s on, but he’s confident that he can control matters.
And I’m sure we’ll all sleep better knowing that.
SIDEBAR – You may have read through all of this and agreed with it, but still held the notion that at least Britain doesn’t torture people. You may need to abandon that notion one day.
UPDATE – Lotsa discussion on this over at Europhobia and a charming follow-up outburst here.
UPDATE 2 – BBC – Anti-terror ruling: Your reaction (be prepared to weep in places).
UPDATE 3 – Independent – Belmarsh: a new affront to justice: The Government’s refusal to withdraw its anti-terror laws has left Britain on the brink of a constitutional crisis that threatens centuries of hard-won civil liberties, it was claimed last night. Ministers were warned that their unprecedented defiance in the face of a clear ruling by the country’s highest court has set the executive on a collision course with the judiciary.
Independent – Australia to impose 1,000-mile ‘terror exclusion zone’: In a controversial and possibly illegal step, Australia plans to intercept and board ships on the high seas if it believes them to be a terrorist threat.
What a clever idea. It’s bound to ensure the safety of Australians and foster goodwill with neighbouring countries. That’s why Johnny is George W. Bush’s faaaaaaaaaayvrit deputy.
New York Times – Apartment Said to Have Been Scene of a Kerik Affair: An apartment in Battery Park City that former Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik secured for his personal use after Sept. 11 was originally donated for the use of weary police and rescue workers who were helping at ground zero, according to a real estate executive who has been briefed about the apartment.
Independent – Bush ally used Ground Zero rescue crew flat as a love nest: The murk surrounding Bernard Kerik, whose nomination to be homeland security chief by President George Bush fell apart a week ago, thickened yesterday amid reports he used an apartment that had been donated for use by exhausted 11 September rescue workers for conducting his extra-marital liaisons.
New York Times – Mystery Woman in Kerik Case: Nanny: One secret after another has tumbled out since the collapse of Bernard B. Kerik’s nomination as homeland security secretary – an undisclosed marriage, clandestine love affairs, unsavory business ties and unreported gifts…. Yet six days after Mr. Kerik withdrew his nomination, citing “questions about the immigration status of a person who had been in my employ,” the figure central to the scandal – the nanny – remains a complete mystery.
But you can be certain the nanny exists. Just as you can be certain that it’s far better Kerik go because of a minor irregularity over an employee than for anything else he may have done.
Ahahahahahahahahaha! I knew it… I knew it!
Today, Page 3 lovely Katie (19, from Liverpool) gets her funbags out to express how utterly devastated she was to hear that David Blunkett had quit. She says: “I think it’s terrible that a man who has done so much for the country has felt it necessary to leave public office. Blunkett was one of the few Home Secretaries prepaed to get tough on issues that matter to ordinary people – asylum, terrorism and law and order.”
I agree. It’s a great tragedy. Surely Tony Blair has established that it’s not a resigning matter to inadvertently or (ahem) subconsciously influence civil servants and accidentally get the desired result.
No matter. The Sun is already busy building the rep of “crime-fighter Clarke” as they go about the messy business of the autopsy. The results of which are as follows:
David Blunkett was a man who cared too much. Loved too much. He was also a brilliant home secretary who tackled The Issues that matter most to Rupert Murdoch the public. Sadly, he had struggled through adversity only to be brought down in flames. Not because of any impropriety on his part, oh no… but all because of the vindictiveness of a bitter and twisted woman. One can’t help but draw parallels to the story of the biblical hero Samson etc. etc. etc.
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