KCB

The Shame of Scotland

The release of the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds is an insult not only to the families of the people murdered on that day but on the whole of Scotland.  I have never liked “conspiracy theories”  I have only believed once before that there was a conspiracy and that was the assassination of JFK, but I believe that things happened with the Libyan bombers release that have led me to the conclusion that this was a decision made on Political and trade grounds, not on compassion.

Lets start from the beginning, I am 95% certain that Libya was responsible for the bombing, and that Magrahi was guilty, but there lingers a little itch that Iran made have been the ones that bombed the plane in revenge for the accidental shooting down of a flight by the US a year before, but I can live with Libya being the guilty party.

The seeds of this release were planted in 2004 by Tony Blair when he met Gadaffi in Libya, the seeds were watered and fed occasionally over the years by many labour MP’s who visited Libya ending in Peter Mandlessons meeting with Gadaffis son in Crete a few weeks ago, the UK has many companies, BP, Shell etc that have just been given lucrative oil deals in Libya and the release of Magrahi would cement these deals, there is also the reluctance of the UK government to release documents relating to Lockerbie to Megrahis appeal hearings on grounds of national security, a new appeal was pending and the UK government were applying pressure to get this stopped, why?  And why was it part of the deal for Megrahis release that he drop his appeal?

This release shames the people of Scotland, it should never have happened and if the Labour party in Scotland has the “Balls” it could lead to the resignation of the SNP Government and an election, but with Labour being so low in the polls and held in such low esteem I cannot see it happening.

I admire America  and its people so much, it makes e angry that for political reasons families of those killed on PanAm flight 103 have been hurt so much and I can understand the anger and resentment that is being aimed towards Scotland, but it was not done in the name of the Scottish people, they do not have our support for the release, we were not asked, this was a decision we had no say in taken by a Government minister,  I can only hope that America can forgive the ordinary people of Scotland for something we had no control over.

What price duty and courage?

Gordon Brown is for ever standing up in the House of Commons and reading out names of Soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan, he then says that they will be remembered with honour and that the country owes them a huge debt of gratitude! why then is his government trying to claw money back in the appeal courts from soldiers who were injured? how low can this government get? it's ok for ministers to claim thousands and thousands in expenses, but troops who lay their lifes on the line and end up with severe injuries have to fight to get compensation and then fight again against their own government to keep it.

This Government sent the troops into Afghanistan, badly equipped and badly supported, but to then try and cut the compensation paid to wounded soldiers is beyond disgust, it angers me that people in the public service can get well over £100,000, sometimes £500,000 for so called racial abuse or even because sexual remarks are made, but troops who are fighting a war on this countries behalf are lucky to receive £50,000 for the loss of a limb, it makes my blood boil that someones "feelings" being hurt in the office entitles them to so much more than brave soldiers who lose a leg.

what is the UK becoming?

I really fear for the UK, the country is in such a mess and the vast majority of British citizens feel betrayed and under attack from the liberal elite and ethnic minorities, a perfect example of this just happened in my home city of Glasgow ( I feel ashamed to say), the Glasgow School of Modern art just put a bible on display as an exhibit and invited the viewers to vandalise it by writing in the margins etc, this was on public view for well over a week before the Bible was put under a glass case to stop the vandalism, could you imagine the outcry if the same thing had been done to the Koran? there would have been mass demonstartions and our Government would be condemning the exhibitors, but because it was the bible, nothing was said.

Thanks to Blair and new Labour this once great country is falling apart, our schools are told not to teach British history as it was all colonialism and bloody empire and that we should feel ashamed, it hurts to see what is happening here, can only pray that a change of government will help to put a stop to all this.

Nice work if you can get it!

This Friday British MP’s go on holiday and parliament doesn’t sit again until October, we have troops fighting a war in Afghanistan and our parliament is in a three month recess.

Mp’s complain about the hours they work and the pay they receive, some even try to justify the way they abused the expense system, but between Christmas, Easter, and Summer and Whitsun they get over 4 months off every year, but they say they deserve it as its stressful, these same people have cut the amount of time troops get at home with their families, but obviously fighting and getting shot at and getting blown up by land mines isn’t as stressful as sitting in the Houses of Parliament!

Politics and politicians in the UK are held in contempt by the majority of the people, but in their arrogance they blame everyone except for themselves, they keep saying they will listen to the people and act on their behalf, but never do, they do as they wish and as they think we deserve, I wish that the MP’s we elected acted on our behalf and voted the way their constituents would want instead of following the party line, THEY WERE NOT ELECTED TO VOTE FOR THEIR PARTY, BUT TO ACT AS THE PEOPLES VOICES.

Enjoy your holidays.

Afghanistan is the war winnable?

No one has won a war in Afghanistan since Alexander the Great, we British have had been kicked up the Khyber pass more than once, and the Russians left in defeat, now NATO are trying to win a war and I wonder if we can?

It angers me that its really only the Americans, British and Canadians who seem to be doing the fighting, the rest of NATO troops are in the north and never seem to leave their barracks, the Germans are not allowed to go out at night, which is a joke, there are over 30 countries which have contributed military personnel to Afghanistan, but only 3 who seem to be doing the fighting and dying.

With no disrespect to my American friends, I believe that the British Armed services are the most professional in the world, unfortunately they are Lions led by Lambs, they are sent into battle zones with the wrong equipment or even missing basic equipment, not enough heavily armoured troop carriers and far too few Helicopters, there are not even enough troops to do the job, recently our generals requested 2,000 more infantry, they were sent a tenth of that, these brave men and women are being asked to put their life’s on the line for a Government who are not willing to spend the money for these brave people to get the war won.

In stark contrast the Americans have just raised troop numbers massively, they have well over 100 helicopters in country and they fly the GI’s to the areas they are attacking, saving them from travelling over dangerous roads where bombs have been planted, the American troops are given the very best equipment money can buy, and the tools to do the job.

I am sure that the British troops look on the GI’s with envy, no money is spared to protect the GI’s  and to make sure they have the best weapons, I know Americans are just as proud of their armed services as we Brits are, and they think their troops are the best, but as I wrote earlier I really do believe that the British army is the most professional and best trained in the world, I just wish they were given the same equipment as the Americans and that our Government stopped counting money and do what our American cousins do and support the troops 100%. I fear that unless my government get serious about winning the war, then Afghanistan may turn into a disaster for the British armed services.

Summer Holidays

As it is summer I thought I would write about when I was a young boy and we used to go to Ayr or Saltcoats for our holidays in July.

Ayr and Saltcoats are both seaside towns on the west coast of Scotland and only 45 - 60 minutes away from Glasgow by train, but to me when I was young it was like travelling to the other side of the world, I used to go on holiday with my sisters and my mother and grandmother, my father was always working and he never liked going on holiday anyway, the peace and quiet he got when we were out of the house was his idea of paradise.

Ayr is famous for being close to Rabbie Burns birth place in Alloway, we used to visit Burn's Cottage when ever we went on holiday, when you are young you don't really think about the person (Burns) who lived in this cottage, but more about how small and dark it is, not until you get much older you realise that someone so famous was born and raised in that small place.

The Beaches in both resorts are great, although the sea is always freezing so I never wanted to go in, but making sand castles passed many an hour, then we would go to fun fair and ride on carousels and cars on rails, then there were the amusements and the one armed bandits, shoving old pennies into machines and watching in excitement as your penny helped to push a load of others out and you would win, we only had one holiday a year, and it was only 45 minutes from Glasgow, but to us it was like Spain, for that fortnight we would feel lucky, many families where we lived couldn't even afford to go to Ayr.

Now children fly to Spain with their families on a regular basis, its amazing how much holidays have changed in 30-40 years, are they happier now in Spain than I was in Ayr all those yaers ago? I doubt it, it was an adventure for me every year and I have so many happy memories from that time..

Pinup of the day

Trees and their influence on Presidential elections.

I thought on the anniversary of Independence Day it would be interesting to compare the first President of the USA to the current incumbant and what they have in common.

George Washington was born in Virginia, Barrack Obama was born in Hawaii (this is still open to debate as no formal birth certificate has been brought forward)

Washington was taught at home by his father, Obama was taught in Jakarta Indonesia and also a private preparatory college in Honolulu, then in Los Angeles and attended Columbia University where he received a BA in political science.

It is in Washingtons early career that we find the first link between the two men, Washingtons family owned a tobacco plantation and had Slaves working the land.. Obama's ancestors were from Africa where most slaves came from.

At aged 20 Washington became adjutant general of the state militia, Obama worked in the New York Public Interest research group.

Washington became commander in chief of the Continental army, Obama never served in the military.

from what I can see there is only one other thing linking Washington and Obama, Trees, yep the humble tree, Washington is famous for admitting to chopping down a cherry tree (although this didn't really happen and was used as a metaphor for Washingtons honesty), and Obama owes his election to Acorns, in other words Obama was elected by NUTS.

　

　

This just came to me!!

was in chat and someone said they had a bumper sticker which read "Democrats Party Before Country" which I thought was cool... then something came to me  "From little ACORNS do Big Democrat Governments Grow"

wonder if I can patent that?

"Childhood" Innocence lost?

I was sitting at the window the other day watching the kids over the back yard bounce about on their trampoline, playing with their nintendoes etc and talking on their mobile phones and it got me reminiscing about my own childhood, the first christmas I can recall vividly I was 5 years old I had watched John Wayne in She wore a yellow ribbon a few months previous on TV, and I wanted to be a soldier, when I awoke on Christmas morning and opened my presents I was so excited to see a cavalry uniform, I couldn't wait to put it on and go out and play with my pals.

I lived in a close (six houses in one block) and we had middins out the back, Middins were brick structures where we used to put our garbage for collection, my Middin became Fort Lincoln, I stood on top with my cavalry uniform on and my mates were my troop.. ok looked a bit stupid with cavalry guy, a GI complete with rifle and a cowboy with a six shooter all under attack from one little indian, but it was fun, we never had mobile phones, our means of communication was 2 tin cans connected by a piece of string, things seemed so much more innocent then, less materialistic, we made our own fun, we played "hide'n'seek" "kick the can" and of course Football (soccer) where we used our sweaters as goalposts, Kids today wouldn't dream of using chalk to make a hopscotch board in the street, they want every expensive toy or gadget that is going, it seems to me that they have lost so much that we used to love and enjoy. money wasn't important to us, we just wanted to play and we used whatever we had to hand and our imaginations to make castles, tanks, forts, and so much more.

Perhaps I am just getting old, maybe looking at things with rose coloured spectacles, but I believe we were happier children then, there was no peer pressure to have the most expensive shoes or toys, to me and my sisters opening our presents on Christmas morning was so exciting, we always got our main gift then some little stocking fillers, some tangerines, a selection box (chocolate)  mixed nuts and an annual( comic hard back book) my favourite was the Broons or Our Wullie, my sisters always got the Bunty, Judy or Jackie, we were grateful for everything we got no matter what it cost, I wish children today were as unselfish.