Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Gary McKinnon
Leaders We Can Believe In
I am intensely moved by Barack Obama and David Cameron taking the time to discuss Gary McKinnon’s case yesterday. See here for the story. Also by his mother Janis’ gratitude and gracious behaviour in response. As she so eloquently put it, these two men represent a new beginning in our world. I am full of admiration for them both.
What Gary is alleged to have done was wrong. He now needs to be tried by a British court. If he is found guilty then the punishment must suit the crime taking into account his mental capability.
Big Pharma Plugs Weed
God's Herb
The news that Sativex, a whole plant extract of cannabis, was approved as a medicine in the UK was welcome, of course.
But £125 for 10 ml, two teaspoons – please!
According to Sativex’ prescribing information, each 1 ml contains 27mg of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), that’s the magical ingredient. So in each spray that’s £125 for 270mg of THC.
At today’s extortionate street price of £10 per gram, good weed contains about 12% THC. So that’s £10 for 120mg of THC.
At Big Pharma prices you get stoned for 46p/mg. On the street you get high for 8p/mg.
Draw your own conclusions but please, do check my figures. Let me know if you disagree.
Moat’s Last Moments. Are All Our Policemen Wonderful?
Almost Over
On Friday night they had Raoul Moat cornered at last. It was the culmination of something more akin to a military invasion than a reasonable response to just one deranged nutter. Northumbria Police had already made fools of themselves but we were all biting our lips, not yet protesting, hoping against hope that there would be no further casualties.
The first photographs from the stand-off were released and they clearly showed police pointing tasers. On BBC News the ex-police firearms expert was interviewed and asked why a taser couldn’t be used to disable Moat. He answered quite unequivocally that using a taser when a man has a gun pointed at his head was more than likely to result in him firing the weapon involuntarily.
First thing on Saturday morning and it was no surprise to learn that Moat was dead. What was utterly shocking was to learn that two tasers had been fired and the recording broadcast by the BBC revealed the shouting before the sound of the shotgun blast. The unavoidable conclusion is that exactly what the firearms expert had predicted was what happened.
I don’t have any sympathy for Moat. As far as I’m concerned a good case could have been made for him being shot on sight but I am very, very unhappy with the way the police handled the affair.
All Over Now
It may be that the denouement itself was handled properly. We will never know what really happened however many inquiries we have. What I am certain of is that overall the police should have done much better. Those far, far better qualified to judge than me have already said as much. I speak only as a concerned citizen.
I really worry about our police service. While I believe there are many brave, honourable coppers, some of whom are highly skilled, there are too many worrying indications that our police service is not up to the job.
There’s thuggery and the rank-closing covering-up and justification of it. There’s the appalling canteen culture which is at the root of all the institutionalised racism, thuggery and freemasonry. There’s the amateurish approach of senior officers who seem barely competent at times. There is inevitably some corruption but also a long-running deception that the decision to prosecute is at arms length. The police decide who to investigate in the first place. The CPS and the police eat in the same canteen
Look at the brutality of the police, the TSG in particular, at the Gaza and G20 protests and how they’ve got away with it. Look at the Inspector Gadget police website for an insight into the disgusting attitude of many officers. Look at the management of situations like the Cumbrian shootings and the Raoul Moat affair and the use of ludicrous, self-evidently bad ideas like the “kettling” at the Gaza and G20 protests. Look at the income generation from speed cameras promoted by some chief constables. Look at the absurd, intrusive, wildly excessive use of CCTV. Look at the ridiculous administration routines that many chief constables have imposed. Look at the insistence on retaining the DNA of innocent people.
The police are now very well paid. A starting police officer gets about twice as much as a starting soldier. They have wonderful pension arrangements. They’re also excused, let off and get away with behaviour that should never be allowed. Look at the thug, Sergeant Delroy Smellie , who repeatedly beat Nicola Fisher at the G20 protest and got away with it, or the officer who assaulted Ian Tomlinson, who later died, and who has still not been charged over a year later.
All the brave, honourable coppers are let down by those bad apples which myopic “support” of the police allows to rot and infect the rest.
The British police service needs a shake up. It is complacent and inefficient. Excellent work is done in anti-terrorism and organised crime but the truth is not all our policemen are wonderful. We need to face up to that truth and make some changes. Perhaps locally elected police chiefs are a way forward.
A Scientific Conclusion
“It’s not dishonesty. It’s a failure to display a proper degree of openness.”
The Independent Climate Change Email Review 2010
“No More Obvious Waste” Than UK’s £19 Billion War On Drugs
A Wise Lady
In the House of Lords on 15th June 2010, Baroness Meacher announced a “radical shift of policy” from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The UN’s “war on drugs” has been an abject failure creating an illegal trade worth £320 billion and financing civil war in South America for the last 25 years. British soldiers die almost every day in Afghanistan fighting an enemy financed by the illegal opium trade.
The UK spends £19 billion annually on the costs of drug law enforcement.
According to Baroness Meacher there is “no more obvious waste” of public money. When will our leaders have the courage to grasp this nettle, to liberalise our pointless, self-defeating laws and free up billions of pounds of our money for more sensible purposes?
In addition, expert research indicates that a legalise, regulate and tax regime could contribute at least £6 billion annually in additional tax revenue. How can we afford to ignore these huge sums of money which we could make available to the country at little more than the stroke of a pen and with only a beneficial effect on the health of the nation?
Dying For A Stupid Law
Five years ago, while campaigning for the Tory party leadership, David Cameron called for “fresh thinking and a new approach” towards drugs policy and said that it would be “disappointing if radical options on the law on cannabis were not looked at”. Nick Clegg has promised to repeal “illiberal, intrusive and unnecessary” laws and to stop “making ordinary people criminals”. There can be no better example of this than the laws against personal use and cultivation of cannabis, particularly for medicinal reasons.
The coalition government’s new Your Freedom website launched only this morning is already inundated with proposals to legalise cannabis and to end the futile war on drugs. The site is crashing under the strain of a massive outcry from British people for the state to back off and give us back our freedoms.
We don’t just want our freedom back. We want our money back too.
Thug Smellie Gets Away With It
Fugitive From Justice
Another miserable day for British justice. Another scandalous triumph for police brutality. Another incompetent, unforgiveable failure by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. “Independent” my ****. Weak, corrupt and pointless more like!
Sergeant Delroy Smellie, who should be languishing in jail for several years, in segregation for his own safety, has got away with his brutal assault on Nicola Fisher at the G20 protest. See the full story here.
This is a licence for British police officers to use violence and brutality whenever they wish, even when they are being filmed. Whatever the evidence they will get away with it.
It took the Metropolitan Police 30 years to admit they murdered Blair Peach. Somehow, in the face of the crystal clear facts they have been able to get Smellie off the hook. This failure of the Courts and the IPCC to call him to account can only be corrupt. There can be no other explanation.
What about the assault on Ian Tomlinson? He died after another Metropolitan Police thug assaulted him at the G20 protest. More than a year later we are still waiting for the officer concerned to be charged. What hope is there for justice for him?
My Letter To The Times
I am honoured to be in august company today with my letter published in “The Times”.
The Times, 15th June 2010
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry
A dreadful set of conclusions. An appalling injustice. A masterful performance by David Cameron. It goes a long way to restore some faith in British justice after too many examples of it failing miserably.
Where from here? Justice must be seen to be done which means that the families of those who were murdered are entitled to expect charges to be brought. They are also entitled to damages from the British government.
Murder
This makes me ashamed of those who lost control on that terrible day 38 years ago. It also makes me proud of my country that, eventually, justice has been done.
Truth is often best revealed through art. I have always thought that the film “In the Name Of The Father” illustrates so well some of the evil and injustice that was perpetrated on the people of Northern Ireland.
In the end, Northern Ireland is a wonderful story of the triumph of good over evil and hope over despair. Bloody Sunday is a terrible episode in this story. Today those who fought for justice are vindicated and triumphant. Those who died are heroes and martyrs to the peace that we now enjoy. God bless them.
Obama From Britain
After Bush, to my knowledge, the worst US President ever, I was excited about the prospect of Hilary Clinton in the White House. The election of Barack Obama was simply stunning. For me, it rejuvenated the whole idea of America – the noble principles of the Constitution, the idea that anyone can rise to the very top based on merit alone. It updated that dream by transcending race, prejudice and history.
Ordinary And Extraordinary
As it happened, I watched his inauguration with my parents. I wept at Obama’s words, at the huge symbolism of his achievement, at Jesse Jackson’s overwhelming moment. My Mum & Dad said that it was like Kennedy was for their generation – the sense of new hope and optimism. The same idea that makes me think of Churchill’s “broad sunlit uplands”.
So what’s going on now? I ‘m sure I don’t understand a lot about American politics. I can only see it from my perspective. That means I get most of my news from the BBC. I balance that with a daily trawl through the blogs and online newspapers on the issues that interest me.
In some ways I think the BBC is more British than Britain. In fact, I trust the BBC more than I trust any politician. Its standards and independence preserve our national integrity better than any political leader.
Going online gives me a broader view, often composed of ridiculous extremes as well as mainstream media. There are so many highly literate, super clever bloggers who are completely deluded and beyond any reason. Going online provides an overall summary of all different points of view and sources of information.
I think Obama is a fundamentally decent man. There is a coterie of bloggers who believe he is a Chicago politician just the same as when Al Capone was in town. I think he is bigger than that.
There is also a sisterhood (men and women) of Democrats, bitter supporters of Hilary, who are determined to undermine him. Republicans say he is un-American and claim that he won the election through fraud.
I still have faith in the man. In the horribly murky world of American politics I don’t think he would have risen to the top unless he was very special. I detect authenticity.
The oil spill has been his greatest challenge. I feel that when he speaks for himself, from his heart, he speaks the truth. When he is confused and manipulated by those around him he fails. Many will say I am naive but how can anyone triumph without support? We need leaders who can inspire, who can make us believe in them.
From the very beginning Obama has “extended the hand of friendship” towards Iran but it becomes clearer every day now that the current regime must be condemned without reservation. He has stood up against Israel better than his predecessors and in the overall moral balance that was well overdue. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on the attempted kidnapping of Gary Mckinnon It’s probably not high enough in his priorities to have had his proper consideration yet.
No one was more critical of Gordon Brown and his foolhardy, self-serving government than me but the way that some Americans criticise their leader horrifies me. Some of the conspiracy theories and charges levelled against Obama are worse than those against Hitler or Mengele. There are are so many complete nutters in America I really do wonder what they put in the water.
After re-consideration, from my British perspective, I still have faith in this extraordinary man. I urge him to continue to have the courage of his convictions. I wish he could put aside short term political considerations. I think, almost whatever happens, he will win a second term so he can afford to look at least six years in advance and ignore his critics. I still believe in him.
Massive Outcry For Legal Cannabis On Your Freedom Website
with 5 comments
Your Freedom
The coalition government’s Your Freedom website has, according to Nick Clegg, been “helpful and really exciting”. It’s been going nearly a fortnight now and anyone who has tried to visit it will have their own experience of how popular and therefore slow and busy it is.
The single most remarkable thing about it though is the massive outcry for the legalisation of cannabis and an end to the war on drugs. I don’t believe that people’s opinions have suddenly changed. It’s just that they’ve been given a forum in which to express their views. If the government doesn’t do something about this issue now they’re going to look pretty stupid.
Your Choice
Mind you, during Obama’s transition, after the election but before the inauguration, he introduced the idea on his change.gov website. Legalisation of cannabis was the winning idea but it wasn’t adopted.
However, it is true that Obama has made big changes in favour of medical marijuana and that the war on drugs is clearly over.
The site itself is an object lesson in how not to set up an internet presence. The chosen technology is absolutely useless. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so bad. HMG could have achieved a much better result with an off-the-shelf WordPress blog just like this one. This is just another example of the now proven theory that anything the government does with IT will go wrong and cost a fortune. Who are the idiots who were employed to set up this site?
It is completely overloaded and incapabable of handling the traffic it generates.
The software used for adding comments is the worst I have ever seen anywhere on the web. When a commenter presses the “add comment” button there is no positive response. Given how totally overloaded the site is it can take several minutes for the post to appear. In the meantime, the commenter has pressed the button another four or five times before giving up. Multiple copies of comments appear and the system slows down even more.
The moderation policy is bizarre to say the least. It’s glaringly obvious that no thought at all was put into how to organise suggestions. Consequently, there are literally hundreds of ideas that are almost identical. Some of these are closed by the moderators and referred to another similar idea – but some aren’t. They’ve learned nothing from the petitions section of the No 10 website. It is just crazy!
There’s a strong suspicion of gerrymandering or tinkering with the posts, the votes and the comments. It may just be the chaos of the site itself but it feels wrong. There are dodgy things going on behind the scenes and protest is snuffed out.
Overall, I’d rather we had the site as it is than not have it at all. It’s just embarrassing though to see how bad it is.
It remains to be seen whether the government will take any notice. If not though they’ve made a rod for their own back.
Written by Peter Reynolds
July 14, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Posted in Consumerism, Politics, technology
Tagged with bad, blog, cannabis, change.gov, chaos, coalition, commenter, comments, crazy, dodgy, fortune, forum, gerrymandering, government, HMG, idiots, incapabable, internet, IT, legalisation, massive, medical marijuana, moderation, Nick Clegg, No 10 website, Obama, object lesson, off the shelf, opinions, outcrym, overloaded, popular, posts, protest, slow, snuffed out, software, suggestions, technology, tinkering, traffic, transition, useless, votes, war on drugs, web, website, winning, Wordpress, wrong, Your Freedom