Lockerbie, pets and shotguns

The British hang ‘em high brigade are out in force again over the pending release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the so-called Lockerbie Bomber. They are calling for him to rot in jail on the basis of ignorance. You can read some of the ill-informed comments here.

If any of these ranting individuals took the time to review what’s been happening since he was incarcerated then they would realise that the evidence against him is now highly suspect and it’s widely believed that he was the subject of a horrendous miscarriage of justice perpetrated by the US authorities. At the very least it’s posited he was offered up as a sacrificial lamb by Gadaffi to stop the sanctions against Libya.

The problem is that people rarely bother to investigate, think and then form a considered judgement – they react with visceral gut emotion under the erroneous assumption that the British judicial system is faultless. That has been disproved many times in the past.

In 2007 the following came to light:

1. Megrahi’s lawyers claim that vital documents, which emanate from the CIA and relate to the Mebo timer that allegedly detonated the Lockerbie bomb, were withheld from the trial defence team.
2. Tony Gauci, chief prosecution witness at the trial, is alleged to have been paid $2 million for testifying against Megrahi.
3. Mebo's owner, Edwin Bollier, has claimed that in 1991 the FBI offered him $4 million to testify that the timer fragment found near the scene of the crash was part of a Mebo MST-13 timer supplied to Libya.
4. Former employee of Mebo, Ulrich Lumpert, swore an affidavit in July 2007 that he had stolen a prototype MST-13 timer in 1989, and had handed it over to "a person officially investigating the Lockerbie case".
   

Megrahi’s 3rd appeal is due, and it could lead to a lot of uncomfortable new evidence coming to light – uncomfortable for the US authorities. However, if he’s repatriated he has to forego the appeal (or choose to stay in the UK) – and thus compensation if cleared. Neat trick, eh?

To say I detest the mob is an understatement. It has no brain and reacts without thinking. God help us if we ever have total democracy where every issue is voted on by everyone.

The computer-generated picture below was created after a survey of 2,000 British pet lovers and revealed the nation's perfect animal. It should be 49% dog, 35% cat, 9% horse and 7% rabbit.


Cute, isn’t it?

Yesterday I was listening on the steam wireless to a chap who is launching a shooting-fishing-hunting TV channel. I was horrified to learn that in the UK you can legitimately hold a shotgun licence from the age of 2 (to own an airgun you have to be 18). It would be younger, but someone has to vouch that they’ve known you for 2 years. The TV chap defended children having shotguns by using one of the most facile arguments I’ve heard in years – that it teaches children to be responsible. In that case we should be allowing toddlers to drive, wield chainsaws and vote. As any parent knows, responsibility cannot be taught to children until they are aware that they are not the centre of the universe – which occurs at about 18, or 50 for males.

Right – I’m off on holiday and I’ll leave you with an interesting link about the spread of memes. However, don’t think I won’t post while I’m off work – you know how I can’t resist it, especially when I hear some nonsense.

PS - as I have just been reminded, if you're on Facebook then there's a poll here about the Lockerbie Bomber.