Master of all he surveyed

Donald Dewar, originally uploaded by Lay Clerk.

I was out for a wander in Glasgow city centre yesterday before meeting a friend for lunch, when I decided it was time to take a photo of the statue of the Right Honourable Donald Dewar, former First Minister of Scotland, who died suddenly in 2000.

The statue is outside Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and he faces due south down Buchanan Street. Rather that take a normal view of it (oh, OK then, I took a couple of them too, including this one!) I decided to see what it'd look like from a different perspective, and this image is the result. I'm quite pleased with it, I have to say!

Lest we forget

I watched this live on TV 8 years ago. I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.

I was on annual leave and was visiting Edinburgh when we heard early reports on the car radio, so we found a pub and watched the events unfold live, together with the other stunned clientele of the pub.

A few days ago here in the UK three men were found guilty of plotting to kill thousands of people by blowing up airliners over the Atlantic using home made liquid bombs disguised as drinks.

A couple of weeks ago here in the UK Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the convicted murderer of 270 people blown up in Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, was released from prison and allowed to return to a hero's welcome in Libya on the basis that he has terminal cancer and therefore a short time left to live. I happen to think that this was a big mistake, and he should not have been released, but that's for a different post.

A few days ago a 600lb bomb was defused by an army bomb disposal team in South Armagh, Northern Ireland. It has been reported that it had been left there by a small Republican splinter group rather than the Real IRA or Continuity IRA.

Be in no doubt, we face a present, real and serious threat from terrorism.

Home grown terrorism such as that perpetrated by some Republicans.

Home grown terrorism perpetrated by radical Muslims.

International terrorism perpetrated for political objectives.

But all terrorism, designed to cause fear and, unsurprisingly, terror.

We cannot afford however to give in to such tactics. We absolutely must stand firm against such people who seek to achieve their ends by such evil deeds.

And when they are caught and convicted they must be punished, and in such a way as not only to punish the individuals concerned but to deter others from following the same path.

Their freedom should be taken from them.

They should have no comforts whilst incarcerated.

They should be locked away until they die.

Make your voice heard (maybe)

Click here to sign the petition

Here's something think is worth considering, from one of the many petitions on the UK government's Downing Street site:

"Changes to the law mean cars emitting less than 100g of CO2 per kilometre travelled would be exempt from paying Vehicle Excise Duty (road tax), while motorcycles are still required to pay.

This was outlined by your Chancellor Alistair Darling in his first budget last week, under the auspices of rewarding motorists for driving ‘green’ vehicles.

Despite Darling’s aim, the rate of road tax paid by motorcyclists is set to double in 2009, with the annual charge for a typical 125cc commuter bike set to grow from £15 per year at present, to £33 in 2009.

This makes a nonsense of the revised rates of vehicle excise duty, as motorcycles tend to emit less CO2 and use less fuel than cars, with the average CO2 output from motorcycles at 110g/km.

So why do those who ride greener two wheeled vehicles, use less road space and do not contribute to congestion get penalised whilst 4 wheel motorist whose vehicles use under 100g/km are exempt from road tax .... makes a mockery of your plans"

Consider following the link and signing. I have. Thanks.

Hitler gets the wrong bike

A useful day

I did something useful this evening. No, in fact I did two useful things.

Firstly, and perhaps more urgently, I made contact with a motorcycle mechanic who is willing to look after the smooth running of my bike, so it's booked for the first weekend of August for a service. Hopefully the MOT next week won't throw up anything needing done too urgently.

The more exciting useful thing I did though was something I've been talking about for the best part of twenty five years without actually ever doing anything about it. I contacted the Institute of Advanced Motorists and took the first steps towards sitting my advanced tests on the bike and in the car.

Next Wednesday evening, weather and mood permitting, I will turn up at my first weekly meeting of the bike section and I will be accompanied/followed on a ride, maybe 60 miles or so apparently, by an observer who will analyse and criticise my riding. This will be repeated weekly for a time and will lead up to me sitting my advanced test some time later in the year, hopefully. I have also put my name forward for one of the limited places on the car course which starts in September.

I have to say I'm really looking forward to it all. I'm slightly nervous about the bike bit because I still feel like a newcomer to motorcycling, but when I think about it, I passed my motorcycle test almost eleven years ago and even though I haven't had a bike throughout all of that time, prior to owning my current one each bike I have had has been my sole means of transport and for a year I worked as a motorcycle courier riding about a thousand miles a week in all weathers so I have a lot of experience under my belt in comparison with someone who has been riding for longer but only for pleasure and in fair weather.

Car driving? No problems whatsoever. I've been driving for over 27 years and have experience in cars with and without trailers, vans and 7.5 tonne goods vehicles, and for a time I often moved and reversed a 40 foot articulated lorry round a fairly small yard. I have a lot of driving experience.

The news on BBC1 is just carrying an article on the Queen visiting Tyne Cot cemetery in Belgium today, the 90th anniversary of the start of the battle of Passchendaele. I visited, and Blogged about, Tyne Cot earlier this year. A very moving place. The BBC Scotland news has just followed up with news that the First Minister of the Mickey Mouse Parliament in Edinburgh is also visiting Tyne Cot while he's in Belgium boring Brussels with jumped up claims about Scotland's standing in Europe. I won't bore you with the details. It's all connected to fish.

Oh Hell!

Well, the SNP have gained the most seats in the Disney Parliament.

I think the image on the left says it all really.

On the bright side, Tommy Sheridan didn't get re-elected, so that's something I suppose, and neither did Rosie Kane, a person some have described as a rabid left wing fruit loop. I couldn't possibly comment on that description though.

A lot of talk about problems with the new voting system and how something like 1000,000 ballot papers have been spoiled because they were too complicated so people filled them in wrongly. Perhaps they should introduce an IQ test before you are allowed to vote. Speaking as someone who voted for the first time (so I have nothing with which to compare my experience) I found the papers easy to understand and straightforward to complete.

My vote counted (slightly)

Well it seems the forces of narrow minded bigotry didn't get in in my constituency, but they seem to be doing well in other places although it's still neck and neck and not all counts have been completed. Fingers crossed that they will not gain power.

Lost forever

I have now lost my voting virginity. Quite painless, but hopefully not pointless.

Election Special

So, election day 2007 has dawned.

I have a confession to make. I am a middle aged bloke and I have never ever voted. I make no apology for this, it has always been my personal choice and if you object to this then fuck off and leave me alone. I have long held the view that each candidate and party was as bad as each other and no one was worth voting for. That is of course of the candidates and parties which would ever have a chance of any success, I disregard the independent weirdos.

The background to this is that I was brought up in Motherwell in deepest darkest working class (and I don't mean that in a derogatory way) Lanarkshire and if one of my cats had been put forward as the Labour candidate when I reached the age of 18 then it would have won with a landslide (and probably done a better job, but that's a different point). I assume it's probably the same there now, but it certainly was the case then. There was then no point in voting and no incentive to vote. If I was going to vote Labour, they didn't need my vote, if I was going to vote for someone else they wouldn't win anyway.

My mindset gradually changed when I moved away from Motherwell in the early 1980s. I formed the impression that whichever party were in power they would screw me anyway and I could genuinely see no point in choosing one over another. As an aside, strangely for a while I actually had some sympathy with the Thatcher Conservative government, but I couldn't bring myself to vote for them.

Today is 2007 election day. I think I'm going to vote.

The reason I'm probably going to vote is not because I feel strongly that a particular party should be in power, but rather that I think a particular party shouldn't be.

I haven't decided how to vote yet (although I think I know what I'm probably going to do) but all I want to do is to prevent the Scottish Nationalist Party from gaining any power. They are racist, petty minded, parochial tossers and shouldn't be given the oxygen of publicity. I think it was Billy Connolly who once said "I have only three words to say about Scottish Nationalism, and the last two of those words are Scottish Nationalism"*. I couldn't agree more. They all seem to have that infamous Scottish chip on their shoulders, although in fact to be fair some of them appear to be well balanced individuals with a chip on each shoulder. Some time ago I knew of someone who claimed that they were not anti-English they were pro-Scottish, yet that pro-Scottishness manifested itself as an apparent hatred of England and English people, which really disturbed and distressed me.

So today I will probably break the habit of a lifetime. I don't care which of the other parties gets in, I just need to try to work out the best way of preventing the small minded ones doing so. If I fail and they do get into power and subsequently manage their stated ludicrous and dangerous aim of breaking up the United Kingdom, then I fear I will leave Scotland and live elsewhere. And I don't say that for dramatic effect. I am in fear of the lunatics taking over the asylum.

And that's all leaving aside the issue of the unneeded extra level of government based at the parliament of Disney in Holyrood. Waste of time. Waste of money.

/rant


* the implied first word started with the letter F